Updating a little faster now... still wary about the quality
Nostalgia does no suit you pt. 2
"You, you're my mate." The blonde wrapped her arms around his neck, stroking his head. "Kurama," she whispered, "you aren't making sense. Tell me."
"You! It's you!" he sobbed bitterly. "You don't remember me, and I'm so confused! Gabriel, speak to me!"
"Kurama," she pulled away enough to wipe his ruddy cheeks with her mitten. "I don't understand." Collecting himself, he stepped away from her as Ningenkai melted away subtly, and looked into the gray sky through the bare branches of the forest of Reikai. "I suppose I should bring you home," said the husky voice of Youko, "follow me."
Aware of her surroundings and suddenly afraid, Gabi followed the youko through the woods to his old home. "This is where I used to live, with you and Koronue," he said. The forest around them was very close, almost menacing. "I planted many things here that would keep others away, and destroy those that got too close." Gabi shivered. "Speaking of which, come away from that ivy."
"What?" a leafy tendril had been delicately wrapping around her ankle, and at Youko's warning slithered all the way up her leg. He made a move to stop the plant when a separate plant grabbed him with thorny branches. She was pulled to the ground by several other vines and dragged into a monstrous flower bud. "Kurama!" she cried. It enveloped her in its petals, which were lined with thousands of small, sharp thorns that served as teeth. The petals shifted around her, shredding her clothes and cutting into her skin. She struggled to move, but the flower began to secrete a fluid that worked its way into her cuts and paralyzed her. She suddenly felt very sleepy…
Youko ripped away from the thorny branches, his ki flaring angrily at it; the plant shrunk away sheepishly. The Pink-maw ivy was not so respectful; he summoned his rose whip and severed the blossom from the stem. Several more flowers stood up from the tangle of vines to challenge him. Youko snatched Gabi up from the ground and moved like Indiana Jones; using his whip, he swung into a tree to safety. Unable to reach him, the ivy went back to its first beguiling form, mere forest ivy.
Hanging from his whip, he shook the blonde in his arm, trying to wake her. Her head fell against him and she groaned; her skin covered with tiny scratches. He turned his whip back into a rose and returned it under his hair; landing on a lower branch, he helped the blonde to stand.
He jumped down from the tree, a full thirty feet. Gabi climbed down proudly, not wanting to break her neck. He snatched her hand up like a child that had wandered away from him, "Stay close to me this time."
She followed him silently before adding a faint, "I'm sorry."
He stopped, and chuckled good-naturedly, still facing ahead, "There is nothing to forgive." He continued to lead her through the woods, holding her hand to keep her close.
"This is it." He said; they had stopped in front of a small hill on which a collection of small trees grew. Cut into the hill was an entrance, having long since lost its door.
The blonde peered through a subterranean entrance to an underground lair. Weeds threaded into the floor near the entrance. The musk of stale air wafted into her face. It was dark, cold, and frightening; she strode in first.
Familiarity compelled her to enter the forsaken haunt, why, she didn't know. She reached the bottom of the steps near the entrance and stopped, watching an image play in her mind. From a door across the hall, a girl ran out, dressed in green, with a banner of blonde hair. Youko came out next, followed by another stranger with bat wings; only he didn't seem so strange. "Koronue," she whispered as she watched her waking dream play on.
She walked a bit farther, watching snatches of people flicker around her. She knew Youko well enough, and this bat chimera seemed to be related to him somehow. The green-clad girl snuck up behind Koronue wearing his hat and carrying his scythes. He caught her playfully and turned her away after retaking his things. She turned and walked away from Koronue, toward Gabi. The image of the girl looked up at her. Her face reflected back at her.
"Me, that's me…" She said in a shaky whisper. The images faded as Gabriel's mind whirled; new things were emerging in her brain, things, places and people she had known from somewhere; a dream? Another life? She ran farther and descended a handful of staircases to the lowest level. It was still there; a huge, decrepit bed frame, under which, she had fled and first came to trust Youko. She shook her head furiously, slapping her cheeks; 'How is this possible! Can it be? I remember it now; I lived here with two thieves from Makai. I married Youko and… I wasn't even human.' She rubbed her ears, making sure they weren't actually furry. 'Its all a lie, it has to be a trick. I read the memories of the building; they weren't mine! Youko is just trying to trick me!'
She felt a hand on her shoulder; Gabriel jerked away, "No!" Youko stepped back, slightly surprised. "No! I won't change into this, I'm human, damn it! You don't have any right to make me do this!" the blonde wrapped her arms around herself for protection. The spirit fox looked like she had just slapped him, "Gabe," he said, reaching out to her again. She swatted his hand away. "No! My name is not Gabe! It's Gabi! Get away from me!" she shrieked and ran past him.
"Wait!" he called after her, she disappeared from the old haunt, leaving him behind. A single tear trailed down his cheek, "koi."
Gabriel found her way back to Ningenkai on her own, walking out of the Reikai woods and back into the park. She ran and ran until she was at her house; she stopped, sweating heavily, leaning her forehead on the door. Her hair was matted down with perspiration and stray leaves, and her clothes were smudged with dirt from tripping occasionally. Sadly, Yukina was not present to heal her scraped knees. What would Daren say?
She opened the door to her home and went to the bathroom to take a bath. Her muddy clothes were deposited in the laundry hamper as she slid into the warm, steamy bathtub. She was cold and stiff, as well as grouchy and confused. Gabriel tried to empty her mind and meditate, like Genkai had taught her; speaking of which, her training with the old woman would start again soon.
The blonde drew a breath and submerged herself in the water. Why would Youko lie to her? It was almost a believable lie, too… and how could he get the image of the girl to reflect her face exactly? The pieces all fit together perfectly except for one thing, how did she end up here? If she really was Kurama's long lost mate, how did she end up a foster child traveling the world and becoming a Tantei? She blew a string of little bubbles out of her mouth, watching with blurred vision. Where was Daren? He should have been home to scold her when she walked in the door. She saw a little hamster running in a scamper wheel in her head. Gabriel sat up, shaking her drenched head, "His journal. If he knew anything, it would be there."