Learning to Live Again

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu Yu Hakusho, its characters, universe, or any of that. I do not own Lord of the Rings, either. I only borrowed a piece of it to provide an image comparison.

Notes: Possibly some pairings later on. Also, there are additions of characters of my own creation; I do own those. :) Comments, reviews, suggestions, etc. are greatly appreciated and encouraged! :)

Thanks and enjoy...

Chapter Seven: Proving Capability

"I normally don't like kicking girl's asses much, but I'll go easy on you," Yusuke taunted lightly. Some things never change, Kurama thought with a reminiscent smile.

The white Kitsune bowed low to Yusuke. "Very well," she chuckled. Raising one arm, palm facing him, she murmured softly, "We begin."

Kurama, Hiei and Koenma had followed the two outside to watch the fight. Hokushin hadn't followed the entire way, but he situated himself near a window overlooking the training grounds to watch. Kurama's eyes glittered with interest. He wasn't sure who the more interested in seeing this fight. He half-hoped, with a grin, that she mopped the floors with his cocky best friend.

There wasn't much speaking after the fight started; it was far too exciting. Energy crackled through the air. Snow was falling feverishly from the sky. The hand Aurora had raised summoned up a bow and arrow, made from pale crimson energy. Yusuke had taken an offensive stance, his right hand forming his familiar, trade-mark gun. As his pointer finger began glowing with a fierce blue light, Aurora notched an energy arrow, tipped with an arrowhead made of ice and pulled it back to strike.

They released both attacks at the same time.

"Spirit Gun!"

"Demon Bow: Ice Arrows!"

Blue met red somewhere in between them and the two energies began to fight, Demon Energy versus Spirit Energy. Though, Yusuke's particular energy was more of a hybrid of the two, then it was pure Spirit, it was still a brilliant blue. Suddenly, the energies exploded, dissipating in a cloud of light purple smoke. Yusuke smirked, as he called, "Not so strong now, are you?"

Aurora rewarded his taunting with a vibrant smile. She raised her arm again, and the same red energy bow appeared. "Demon Bow: Thrice Ice!" Instead of notching one arrow, she notched three. They all had the same sharp, jagged ice tip. She released her hold on the string, letting the arrows fly.

Yusuke barked a laugh. Utilizing his speed, he jumped out of the way. Smirking, he looked at her. "Nice try," he shouted. She snapped her fingers. The arrows flipped backwards, retraced their steps, and again, barreled toward her opponent. So, of course, he lifted himself into the air again. His smug smirk faded however, when they followed him. "What the-"

She did not waste the opportunity of having Yusuke distracted. She was in front of his face in an instant. Being in mid-jump, there was no way for him to dodge. She struck him to the ground, where he stayed a moment long enough for her arrows to hit their mark. Or they would have. With a flick of her wrist, she made them dissipate before they reached him. "Get up," she ordered coolly.

"Alright... So I underestimated you a little bit..." Yusuke muttered, brushing the dirt off his pants. "But I'll get serious, now."

She smiled softly at him. A smile exactly like Kurama's. That simple, yet knowing smile. It almost gave him chills. Her expression seemed to him to be screaming I know something you don't! And he didn't like it. He couldn't remember the last time he had his ass handed to him within the first two minutes of a fight. Sensui, if he had to hazard a guess. He was fairly sure, at this point, she was going to be wiping the floor with him in a few more minutes.

"My lord, may I give you some advice?" she murmured, the picture of calm.

"I guess," Yusuke muttered.

"Keep your eyes on my attacks, not on me." Yusuke made some indiscernible noise and frowned. "Now... watch," she whispered, raising her arm again. She didn't make a bow this time, however. There was a slight rumbling sound, and Yusuke couldn't quite tell its exact location before it moved. "Don't listen," she told him. "Sense it."

"Ah..."

"Use your awareness."

The earth erupted beneath him. A millisecond before a gigantic spike of ice impaled him, he jumped away. "Your awareness, Detective!" Hiei called from somewhere to his left. It seemed Hiei had lost a bit of that suspicion in the midst of their fighting. The excitement was contagious, even if he did his best to hide it.

This time, Yusuke listened to them. Throwing out his senses, he realized he could almost see the ice below the ground. It was roughly eight feet to his right... Then six feet to left... Then behind him; he whirled to look. "Ah ha!" he cried triumphantly as he jumped several feet from the place her weapon was about to erupt from.

"Good," Kurama murmured, entranced. Yusuke chanced a glance over at the onlookers. They were all wearing expressions in varying degrees of interest. Kurama was hiding it the least. His eyes sparkled, the ever-present smile was much more pronounced, and he was panting slightly. Fights like these, where there was a lot of power to be experienced and traded, was exhilarating, even if you weren't the one fighting.

Aurora caught Yusuke's attention as she spoke, "Now, if you don't mind, it's my turn to... 'get serious,' as you so eloquently put it." There was a sudden snap, as if, all this time, something was holding all of her energy back. Suddenly, Yusuke was shivering. It was so cold, bone-chilling. Liquid color flowed from her, a pale crimson like her bow and arrows, that somehow managed to be a negative temperature. It was unlike anything Yusuke had seen before. He heard a sharp intake of breath somewhere behind him, he was pretty sure that was Koenma. "I will not complete this attack because I am fairly sure you wouldn't live to tell about it. But I will call forth the... being used in this attack. You wanted to see the extent of my power, so I will gladly show you." She extended both palms to the sky. "I believe you may find this similar to the Fire Child's Dragon, though I have much more control over this..."

The sleeves of her dress fell away. There was a ward placed purposefully on her upper left arm. She removed it with a flick of her other wrist. The energy in the air around them began to crackle and snap with anticipation. It was as if the very air itself could tell there was something coming, something big. "Bringer of Death!" she cried, a white light overtaking her whole left arm. All too quickly, the white turned black and began encompassing her whole slender form. Clouds swarmed the sky where they stood, snow began to fall and swirl at an alarming rate. As if in slow-motion, the scene played out before Yusuke. He was sure that this-whatever she was doing-should probably spark fear into his heart, and it did somewhat, but it was just so... beautiful. Similar to watching a skilled artist paint a breathtaking sunset over an ocean. It was fascinating to behold, especially when he knew she was not going to use this against him. And the energy... Yusuke realized for the first time why Kurama had told him that demons hungered over power, yearned it, chose mates that had it. He know understood that completely. It made his mouth water with... desire.

Not unlike Hiei's Dragon of the Darkness Flame, this being poured from her arm. The color of the liquid-like energy was black. An endlessly depth-less black. Slowly, it manifested into something Yusuke could describe basely as a horse and rider. It even, vaguely, reminded him of something from a movie he'd seen with Keiko; The Lord of the Rings. Those wraiths that were after the ring. Cloaked, dark, maybe evil. Soulless.

Yusuke was fairly certain it was a male born on the horse; it was difficult to discern much beyond that, however. His black, billowing cloak concealed his every detail, save one, his eyes. They glowed a malicious red, as did the horse's. A long, sheathed sword rested on his back, a mere arm's length away should he require its use. Those red eyes seemed to take everything in. He saw everything, missed nothing. Even though he had not been summoned to fight, if the moment arose, he would not hesitate. To kill.

The fear this being brought to the table was palpable in the air around him. The sheer power Yusuke could feel radiating from it sunk into his very soul. He understood, without any trace of doubt, this was a force to be reckoned with. He was also thankful she had only called this... thing to prove a point and not to kill him. Because he had absolutely no skepticism that it would kill him. It would kill him, effortlessly, right where he stood.

"Be still," she cooed softly to the rearing horse beside her, caressing her fingers lightly over its nuzzle. The horse reared up once more, but did as she asked. This-whatever this was, bended loyally to her will. She had control of it.

Yusuke, finally able to rip his shocked gaze away, chanced a look over to the others. What he saw almost made him laugh. Hiei was staring, mouth agape, at Kurama's sister and her horse and rider. Kurama's eyes were wide, a large array of emotions churning through them. Among them was shock, pride, wonder, and even a bit of fear. Koenma looked positively shell-shocked, eyes wide, staring. Hiei appeared to recover, enough to speak, first. "I... I'm impressed. I have not yet met a being who could control the Bringer like this. That is... no mere feat..." he told her, awe evident in his voice. Though he still didn't laugh, Yusuke did grin at this. He had never seen this reaction in Hiei, and he found it quite funny. Hilarious even, maybe.

Aurora sighed, resting her head against the great beast. "It took quite a long time to learn the technique. Though, I'll admit... I do not wholly control the Bringer. He will do as he sees fit. He does listen to me, but I am his keeper, not his master." She smiled gently up at the rider. "And, if I am killed in battle, he will not hesitate to avenge me."

"Impressive," Kurama murmured, eying his sister.

Aurora beamed graciously at her brother, before turning again to her Bringer. "You may come back now," she whispered, backing away.

The rider kicked his heels into the horse's side, causing it to rear up and charge toward her. Yusuke watched, a gasp escaping his lips when it made contact with her. He feared she was going to be trampled, killed. But she wasn't. He realized she was accepting the being back into herself, absorbing the energy of it. Her body was suddenly engulfed with the black light before it dissipated into her completely.

"Satisfied of my worth?" she asked Hiei, looking exhausted but satisfied with herself.

"Hn."

Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I hit a bit of a block writing this fight scene. I'm still not completely satisfied with it, but I think it will do until I get up the willpower to re-write it. Please, as always, let me know what you think. :)