Author's Note: Well here we go again! Beware of grammatical errors due to technical difficulties. Once I'm able to access the corrected version I'll post it. My, I have very prompt reviewers! (some of which have some rather interesting ideas . . . /sweats/) Much violence in this chapter, it is a war after all! Here is where the real story begins. Definitely not one of my best chapters but it works. Anyway, High School is over and I don't start any new college courses until Fall. So what does that mean for you all? UPDATES! (hopefully) Enjoy people! –Sharys

Side Note: I have artwork up! The collection thus far is small, but that's only because I don't have a scanner at home. You can find me at (www.sharysaogail. I have a little something for STMOF, and the first draft of the cover will be up soon.

Disclaimer: I hold no legal rights over the characters of YuYu Hakusho. However I do have fun messing with them in fanfiction and fanart. Ahh . . . the life of a fangirl . . .

Speak To Me Of Freedom

By: Sharys Aogail

Chapter 5

Yusuke proved that he was an excellent marksman. Even under stress and while presented with swift moving targets, every shot fired scored either a fatal or crippling hit. Seven soldiers went down like the first, dead before they even hit the ground, while the remaining four were left to bleed out or were rendered useless.

Adrenaline hummed in Yusuke's ears and vibrated through his veins, making everything too fast and too sharp. His body moved automatically as everything came down to action and response. When he ran out of bullets he charged in close, reversing the grip on his guns and using them to weigh down his punches, not even feeling the damage it did to his own hands. With the barrels lying parallel to his bare arms, Yusuke managed to deflect and parry some of the soldiers with edged weapons.

Yusuke was skilled, yes, but there were still too many soldiers, and Sensui hadn't even jumped into the fray yet. Even with his body this hyped up, this responsive, his muscled were beginning to protest, forgotten scrapes and hidden bruises resurfacing to make themselves known. If he didn't find a way to change the tide soon, he wouldn't stand a chance. And then Hiei would be fair game.

Something warm and faint pulsed in his chest, whispering of something forbidden, a solution. Suggesting that-

NO! Push them back! Keep them away! Find something else!

In the split second Yusuke had hesitated, one of the Jantans slipped past his guard. At the last second Yusuke tilted his head away and brought his arm up to deflect the blow, the wakazashi grazing his collarbone instead of slicing an artery.

"Take him alive!" Sensui barked, the sharp command causing his men to pause in their actions.

Taking advantage of their sudden inattention, Yusuke's heel came across the nearest Jantan's jaw with a thick crack. The man crumpled to the ground, his neck broken.

"Bastard!" another roared, pulling several small silver objects from a pouch and flinging them with a deadly accuracy. Yusuke staggered back, three shuriken now logged in his chest.

Unnatural heat flared at the pain, pulsing once then dying out. He growled low in his chest before jumping back into the fray, never stopping to remove the shuriken.

Even on his adrenaline high, his was quickly becoming too much for Yusuke to handle alone. For every man he killed or disarmed it seemed like another would always take his place. He grit his teeth against the pain and the slow creep of panic but he knew he couldn't hold out for much longer.

Then it was suddenly over. Someone managed to kick out his knee, his whole leg instantly collapsing under him. The moment he was down the soldiers swarmed him, one of them kneed him in the face while another disarmed him, twisting his arms so brutally behind his back that he was forced to release his unloaded magnums. He struggled against them and was given a swift kick to the gut for his trouble.

When he could breathe again he growled and spit on the nearest soldier's boot, the blood-tainted liquid staining the leather. The soldier looked as if he was about to run him through with his dagger.

"Enough," Sensui commanded, finally approaching. "Just hold him down. There is nothing more the traitor can do at the moment."

The hold on his arms tightened and new hands gripped his shoulders, rough fingers pressing tight enough to bruise. With burning eyes, Yusuke surveyed the damage around him before turning his head to stare at his former superior officer. Despite the situation, Yusuke felt a cold sense of satisfaction. He had demolished the main body of Sensui's troops single handedly, with only seven soldiers left standing, not including the Captain himself.

There was the sound of a scuffle behind him, and Hiei was dragged into Yusuke's line of vision. Although Hiei was no longer carrying his sword, Yusuke couldn't help but note the blood dripping down one Jantan's face, where the Vhalkran had slashed him. An inch more to the left and the man would have been missing an eye.

Frowning slightly, Sensui stepped up to a restrained and glaring Hiei, long tanned fingers tracing the five gold bands on one arm before glancing at the four on the other. "You keep very dangerous company Yusuke."

"Sure as Hell beats the company back home. At least he has some sense of honor," Yusuke bit back. Warnings were going off in his mind and the pulsing heat came back, coiling and festering deep in his chest in an unstable mass, held back only by over a decades worth of mental walls. Yusuke struggled to suppress it, but in his growing panic it only grew faster, begging to be unleashed.

"Really . . ." the Jantan captain stepped back and eyed the small Vhalkran before him, scrutinizing. "I thought you had learned by now. Honor has no place here."

"Captain?" one Jantan private asked. "What do you want us to do?"

In answer, Sensui kicked upwards, catching Hiei under the chin. He watched dispassionately as the Vhalkran ground his teeth together, blood now dripping from his pale lips.

Yusuke saw red. He lunged against the men holding him, the fire in his veins making him react without thinking. Knowing what it was, what it had to be, he fought back, struggling to hold fast to his walls. "Stop it," Yusuke warned, his face reflecting his internal struggle.

Sensui paid him no mind. "Lift him up."

Yusuke watched as Hiei was hauled roughly back on his feet. As he looked on his vision blurred and sharpened, the colors becoming disturbingly tainted. He saw after-images of his partner as red-eyed man tried once more to free himself.

"Hold him still."

"Stop!" Yusuke gasped, his whole body shaking as he strained for control. Oh gods don't do this to me, not again . . . "You don't know what you're doing!"

At this Sensui spared him a glance. Then with an arrogant smirk he delivered a vicious blow to Hiei's broken ribs.

Hiei's scream pierced the air, the sound shattering Yusuke's fragile control. The pulse within his chest seemed to burst outwards, and with it came another scream, this one a haunting echo of the past.

The rest was nothing but blue fury.

oOoOo

Blinding pain lanced through his chest and spine, so sharp and explosive, that he couldn't bite back his scream. Without knowing quite why, the soldiers released him, dropping him unceremoniously on his broken arm. They left him there on the ground as he gasped and coughed up blood, trying to clear his lungs.

Even through the pain-induced haze, Hiei felt the sudden gathering of raw magic right before it erupted. His eyes snapped open to see wild magic surge through the air, the sheer amount of excess causing it to crack and fizzle dangerously through the air. It was powerful, tremendously so, but unrefined, showing the user's apparent lack of skill and experience.

It was then that Hiei focused on the Mage himself, his eyes widening at what he saw.

Yusuke was at the center of it all, clutching his hair and doubled over, completely engulfed in a violently swirling vortex of blinding blue energy that was his aura. He stood at the heart of the storm with his magewinds wrapped tightly around him in a semblance of blue fire, the blaze itself a prelude to his wrath. Extensive black tribal patterns covered his skin, painted on his back and chest and down his arms. The designs flickered and died with every pulse of power, and when he finally looked up, the markings on his face turned his visage decidedly feral. His warm brown eyes were gone, now replaced by blinding blue orbs that reflected a cold and unforgiving rage. His eyes never wavered, even as he ripped the shuriken from his own chest.

The man was hardly recognizable.

Yusuke looked past him, up to the men who had been restraining him moments before. With a vicious snarl, he was on them in an instant, his storm trailing obediently behind him. Blood sprayed like crimson rain as he ripped one man's throat out and crushed the spinal column of the other. All Hiei could do was watch as Yusuke ripped them apart with his bare hands, his strength fueled by rage and wild magic.

The remainder of Sensui's men were slaughtered like cattle. Hiei watched it all with a morbid sense of fascination. Before Hiei's eyes, Yusuke systematically killed them all, watching as the ones that fought lasted a split second longer than the ones that didn't. They looked like ants struggling against a tsunami.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hiei caught a flash of movement. Sensui lunged for him while Yusuke was distracted, aiming to finish him off before dealing with the traitorous renegade. Hiei's own movements were sluggish and realized blankly that he couldn't move fast enough.

Yusuke was there before the man could touch him, and grabbed Sensui's fist, squeezing it until Hiei heard the bones snap under the pressure. "Don't touch him," Yusuke growled, the tattoos and blood spatter on his face making him look deranged. Twisting his arm violently, Yusuke gave a mighty kick, sending the Captain into a tree with a shower of splintered wood. "Don't you ever touch him!"

The moment Sensui rose back to his feet, Yusuke lunged at him in a whirlwind of fists and screams. The Jantan Captain was no time to retaliate as Yusuke punched, kicked and clawed everything he could touch, with unused magic rolling off of him like wildfire. With a particularly heavy blow, Sensui fell back onto the ground and soon found his air supply cut off as Yusuke wrapped both hands around the taller man's neck.

Even from where he stood, Hiei could see the expression on Yusuke's face as he slowly squeezed the life out of another human being. It was eerie seeing such cold satisfaction there, as Sensui twisted and writhed, trying desperately to breathe. Something wasn't quite right. His eyes were too blank, too unfocused. Almost possessed.

With a start, Hiei realized what had happened and somehow found his voice.

"YUSUKE!"

Yusuke's head jerked back as if slapped, his wild magic visibly faltering. His shoulders lost some of their tension, his death grip on Sensui's neck easing as the rage slowly released its hold. His blazing aura flickered and faded out, the excess power receding back into its source, causing the majority of the tribal tattoos to fade as well. Even with the power gone from sight, Yusuke's skin still held a residual glow from it's recent use.

"Yusuke?" Hiei called again, cautiously.

Suddenly aware of what he was doing Yusuke dropped Sensui altogether, stumbling back as he realized the man wasn't moving. He looked down at himself, giving a startled stare at the sheer amount of blood coating his hands and trailing down his arms in small rivers. "What did I . . . ?" he trailed off, his eyes finally meeting Hiei's crimson staining his tanned face and beaded in his hair. Brown eyes searched for something unknown. "I did this, didn't I? I lost it."

Hiei said nothing to that, letting the other man adjust on his own.

They stood there silently among the now bloodstained grove, with the smell of battle and death lingering in the air.

"We have to get out of here," Yusuke said suddenly, clearly putting his thoughts and confusion aside for later. That said, he approached Hiei and helped him to his feet, his cautious touch a welcome change after his rough treatment. However, when skin met skin, Hiei's senses sparked as he came into direct contact with the raw magic lingering in Yusuke's very flesh.

Hiei blinked as a pleasant warmth washed through him, relieving pain and pouring strength back into his body. Instead of rejecting the sudden flow of foreign magic, his own magic assimilated it without his command, using it to repair his damaged body. When Hiei realized that he could now stand without pain, he broke away from Yusuke's hold, noting that even with the contact broken, the remaining magic continued to rejuvenate his body.

Hiei had never heard of such compatibility between mages before.

"Are you alright?" Yusuke suddenly asked him seriously. "Are you sure you can move on your own?"

"I'm fine," Hiei replied shortly, a flash of insight telling him that Yusuke had been completely unaware of what he was doing. He would ask him questions later, right now they had other problems to attend to. "Gather up anything useful and let's get the Hell out of here."

And within five minutes, they had found their discarded weapons, collected what supplies they could and left the bloodied grove behind.

oOoOo

Author's Notes: I hope I didn't make Hiei seem that weak, but his injuries are just that bad. I apologize in advance if it bothered anyone. I didn't think this chapter would be this hard to write, but all the bloodshed was more fun then I expected. Ahem . . . Moving on.

All right people, I decided to get a little creative with Yusuke's hand-to –hand scene at the beginning of the chapter. I experimented a bit with my brother's airsoft gun, but it's a bit smaller than the Magnums that our boy carries so I had to take that into consideration as well. (I also figured that any of the inconsistencies could be blamed on the fact that this is an AU and their guns were probably developed differently from ours anyway.)

I was later informed by my dear boyfriend Zanthiel that Yusuke used his guns like a pair of tonfas. He showed me a site with pictures and everything, and he was right. So, yeah, if you don't know what a tonfa is check it out. They're pretty cool.

Special Thanks:

Hyperdude: How's that for kicking Jantan ass? Hee hee . . . it was fun.

Kikira-san: Yay for new reviewers! Er, about our favorite siblings . . . Yukina is not being held by the Jantans. (But I guess "enemy" is proper enough) Cheers!

Rujutoshi: You more or less have the gist of it. And, as always, thank you for your comments. Hey, and let me know about the story with the horse! You're making me wanna draw fanart . . .

Kit-Kit: (Blinks) Well that was a creative guess . . . (looks over to her brother quizzically) Would I write a rape scene?

(brother Fier shakes his head and grins like a fox) You don't have the stomach for it.

Miss Kyoshi: I'm glad I could cater to your tastes. I take it you've read Rujutoshi's stories? She does LOTS of Hiei/Yusuke stories.

Skittles the Sugar Fairy: I hope the wait didn't kill you. (Smiles and waves playfully)

Lady Pearl Lightquest: . . . . . . . what did you say about hurting your sexy men? Oops.

JitaYusuke: Yes they are very sexy together (smirks). I'm glad I made someone's day, and don't worry because I have no intention of abandoning this fic. Heehee . . . so much fun times on the horizon . . .

HieiUrameshi: Glad you like it. (smile)