Hiei is a little out of character in this chapter, but only because he and Kurama are bound together: if one gets into trouble, the other is punished as well.

Ch 9 Scarred

Gabi jerked awake, contorting herself until she was on her feet with her hands near the ground in a crouch. She had been laid on her side in a strange room, probably produced by the house. The walls were soft, covered with foam, colored the purest of white. The furniture was that of a normal bedroom, a dresser, a wardrobe, a bedside table, and a chair by the bed, all of which was crafted out of driftwood. The sheets were a soft faded blue, and a warm sea breeze wafted through the window, over looking the setting sun on the sea. Gabi sat on her knees and held her head in her hands, breathing short ragged breaths. She was plagued by visions from the nightmare of all Nightmares. The edges were fuzzy, but still vividly colored, mostly red with her blood. Who was that demonic figure? Was that a dream? The sleeve of her blue pajamas slid down, revealing gauze wrapped around her forearm.

She screamed. It was real, she lifted the bottom of her shirt; she was bundled up like a mummy in bandages. She was wearing her swimsuit under the soft clothes. Her back suddenly started to burn like fire. She screamed, and kept screaming until her throat hurt. She was reduced to tears, and by the time she cried herself out, Genkai entered her room.

"Awake now?" she asked. Gabi wiped her cheek on her pajama sleeve, cowering away from her. "Don't be afraid, Gabi; nothing can hurt you in here. The house created a room only you, Yukina, and myself are able to see or enter. None of the others can hear or see you here." Gabi slumped on her side into the large fluffy pillow on her bed, drawing her feet under her. Her voice was cracked, but Genkai saw the words her mouth formed.

"I can't tell you who it was that did this to you, Gabi. It was lucky Hiei found you when he did, if he had not been training on top of the cliff that led down to the cave, you might have been killed by whatever the hell that was. Turn towards the window, let me check your back." She ordered softly.

Gabi obeyed with out a sound; Genkai pulled the pajama shirt up to the girl's shoulders and pulled away the bandages. "I don't understand why the wounds did not heal completely by pnematherapy, not even Yukina could make it all disappear." Gingerly, she touched one of the lacerations. Gabi twitched and whimpered. "Still sore? Well, Yukina could dull the pain if not heal it." Genkai sat on the side of the bed, "Listen, do you remember what happened?" Gabi nodded, tears staining her cheeks. "Do you remember that person?" she nodded again, "Do you know, was he someone you know?" Gabi paused and shook her head. At this moment, Yukina entered the room with a tray of food for Gabi, and some tea for all three of them.

"Yukina," Genkai motioned for her to come. Yukina closed the door and put the tray down. Genkai helped her take the bandages off Gabi's back and arm, and leg, rolling up her shirt and pant legs so they would not touch the wounds. Using her healing powers, Yukina let her energy flow and numbed the pain of the whip marks. Gabi laid face down on her pillow, with her eyes closed, but not asleep. The sound of the waves on the beach, and the tiny hum of the Koorime's energy flow were the only sounds. At length, she heard a voice sing, she looked over her shoulder and saw it was Genkai. She had a beautiful voice, and her song, though in Japanese, calmed her twitching and put her to sleep.

Hiei set Kurama on his bed just minutes after he knocked him out in the cave; he watched him until he awoke. The red headed teen slowly opened is eyes, only to find Hiei's katana pressed against his jugular. "What the hell was that, Kurama?"

"Hiei! What are you-?"

"Don'tbull-shitme kitsune; what in the three Worlds made you so pissed that you tried to tear the ningen girl to pulp? We're bound together; if you get in trouble, I get punished too."

"…That wasn't a dream?" Gods, now she'd never like him… He had no doubt screwed up his friendship with her, and it wasn't even his fault; life is cruel.

"You had transformed to your yokai form and whipped the girl until she could have died. She still has the lash marks if you want proof that wasn't a dream." He removed his sword from Kurama's throat and gestured to the side.

"God…I was so sure that was a dream! I don't even remember transforming, or what my reason was; I just saw myself…torturing her, demanding her to scream." Her rubbed the side of his face wearily. "Where is she now?"

"Genkai hid her somewhere in this house where none can enter but her, Gabi and Yukina. I have her orders to slice your legs off if you go anywhere near her." Normaly, Hiei took orders from noone, but in this scenario, he felt obligated to.

"How am I supposed to find out what happened, then!" Hiei raised his sword to the fox again, "I don't know yet. Do you remember anything before the incident that could help?"

Kurama sighed, "We were surfing; Yusuke and the others were watching, and then a pure black dolphin made us fall into the water. It dragged her down, and I followed. It pulled me all the way to the ocean floor; I was fighting with it, and then… nothing. I think I was cut on one of the rocks." He touched the untended wound on his shoulder. "Do the others know?"

"No, Yusuke would have murdered you on the spot. Luckily the band of fools have short attention-spans and didn't even miss you when you were gone."

Kurama put his head in his hands, "What did I do?" Replacing the katana in its sheath, Hiei took the ward off his Jagan again, "I sensed some energy in that cave with you; it was the same as the top of Maze Castle."

"Could there be a connection?"

"Search the cave for your answer." He said, hopping out of the second-story window. Hiei led the way back to the cliff where he trained and to the hole that led to the cave. The tide had moved in slightly, inching up the rocky shelf to the sandy floor. The sight of the red-stained sand made Kurama feel very ill. Searching in and around, they came across a familiar circle of glass-metal. "Morpheus strikes again," Kurama said solemnly and shattered the disk with his fist. He threw the broken shards into a hole where no one would step on them or find them, slipping a somewhat blunt piece into his pocket. "Hiei, could you leave me for a moment?" he said; the Jaganshi climbed out of the hole in the roof, "I'll be at the house; stay away from Gabi."

"I will," the red head sighed. When the fire yokai had gone, he transformed himself back into his yokai form, searching for traces of what happened in his memory. He smelled the sea around him, and wrinkled his nose at the scent of blood on the floor. He smelled the air for anything else but found nothing. For a moment, he found himself breathing deeply of the scent of Gabi's blood. It had been decades since he had last spilt human blood, but it was not something he could forget. "Now where have I smelled that before?" he asked himself. He jumped at the sound of fluttering wings; a bird had flown out of the cave, leaving a feather behind. He picked up the ebony feather absently, shaking his head, sending his silver hair over his shoulders; the black feather did not match any wing pattern of sea-faring birds. He pocketed the plume and left.