A/N: Chapter Seventeen! ...Hooray! :)

O/C16: The gang stops for sleep, Misaki waking up in the middle of the night and speaking with Coahtu-who is following them from a distance-before going back to sleep again…

"Is she dead?"

"I believe she's just sleeping, Kuwabara." Kurama responded.

"She's not even moving!"

"Well, you're not exactly an epileptic spider when you sleep either."

"Thanks, Urameshi that helps a lot."

"Misaki? Misaki, please get up."

Misaki groaned softly and rolled over, not really stirring at Yukina's plea. A pang of sharp pain shot up her arm as she rolled onto it and she cringed.

"See. Kurama's right. She's just asleep. This is the part where if it were me I'd be saying, 'Go away mom, since when do you care if I go to school or not?'"

"You are incredibly helpful today, Yusuke."

"Thanks, Kurama, you're too kind."

"You guys are loud enough to wake the dead." Misaki sat up, rubbing her eyes.

While Kurama didn't say it, an 'I told you so' hung in the air.

Her shoulder stiff and now throbbing as always, Misaki stood, "I guess you're ready to go then."

"You mean back into that horrible forest? No way." Kuwabara crossed his arms.

"I guess Yukina will just have to get lost without anyone to carry her."

"But I-"

Misaki stepped lightly on the girl's toe, stopping the words coming out of her mouth.

"I will carry Yukina! Let us go!" Kuwabara pointed gallantly towards the looming forest.

Misaki ignored the death glare Hiei was giving her from where he leaned against a tree, waiting for the others to start moving.

"That was rather effective." Kurama smiled.

Yusuke snickered.

"Which way?" Kuwabara had Yukina in his arms, the epitome of knight in shining armor or at least trying to appear so.

"Let's see…" Misaki turned around in a circle. She couldn't tell which direction they had come from.

"Some guide you are." Yusuke snorted.

"If you care too, forge the way fearless leader." Misaki gestured obscurely to the tangled trees around them.

"Fine. Fine. I get it."

"That's what I thought." Misaki looked up at the sky. Assuming it was still morning, the sun was up to her right.

Misaki pointed to the east and they all stepped back into the immediate gloom of the woods.

…

Kurama and Hiei lead the way as with yesterday, barely able to cut a traversable path for the group with white whip and silver sword.

Misaki kept glancing around them, steadily growing more suspicious of their surroundings but at a lack for the ability to sense any abnormalities in the trees around them.

She stared at one vine that Hiei just cut through, watching as it hung limp for a moment.

"Ninth circle!" She swore as it moved, regenerating and growing back. "What?" Yusuke struggled with a branch in front of his face, unable to simply move it out of the way. He took it in his hands and snapped it in two, tossing it onto the ground and stepping on it.

"Kuwabara! What do you see behind you?" Misaki demanded, whipping around so she could see the red-head, carrying Yukina on his back.

"Uh…" He looked over his shoulder. "Lotsa green stuff. And brown stuff. Branches, vines, leaves…um trees."

"Can you see the clearing? We haven't traveled too far."

"No. No, I can't. There's this tree behind me and a bunch of the branches and stuff in the way…" He faded off, "Didn't Kurama and Hiei cut through all that stuff?"

"Hey Hiei, can you cut any faster?" Misaki's words were rather casual as it dawned on everyone what was happening.

Hiei glanced back at her, "Just how fast are you wanting, woman?"

"As fast as you two can managed."

"Hn. I don't think you can keep up with that." Hiei brandished his sword fluidly at the blocked passage in front of him.

"Get ready to run." She told them all. "The forest isn't planning on letting us get through."

"Misaki…"

Misaki hadn't turned around and the way Kurama said her name made her not want to turn around, but she did.

The place where Hiei had been standing moments before was empty, the fire youkai gone.

Misaki heard Yukina shriek. Then, Kuwabara cursed.

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke shouted.

"Yusuke, don't be a fool!" Misaki warned, turning back around. Her words came too late.

Yusuke tripped and fell before he took more than five steps, disappearing into the dense forest.

"It appears we're being split up." Kurama and Misaki moved closer to one another until they stood back to back, their eyes sweeping the trees around them.

"Yes. I would say so."

"Any ideas?"

"Nope. You?"
"Nothing comes to mind." Kurama's whip lashed out at a vine that was headed for his face.

"Oh wait. I take that back. I just thought of something." Misaki said thoughtfully, fighting with a branch that caught in the sleeve of her clothes.

"What?"

"COAHTU! If you don't get us out of here right now, you can bet your life that I will hunt you down! And I will kill you this time!"

"This time?" Kurama asked curiously.

"It's a long story."

"You seem to have a lot of those."

"I'm sure you do too, vessel, if you are able to recall your days as Yoko."

"We'll have to sit down and exchange stories sometime." Kurama's whip snapped out, and again, and twice more. But the forest was coming in on them quicker.

"Naturally." Another branched was snagged on her pants, a third reaching out for her other side. "If we live through our journey, we'll make a point of it."

"I look forward to it."

"Good."

They were silent for a second as their fight to stay free continued.

"While I may be able to hit several points of contact at once, I'm afraid I won't be of much assistance soon."

There was a fooshing noise, one that sounded somewhere within the trees to their left, another coming seconds afterwards from their right.

"Took her long enough." Misaki grumbled as a vine began to snake up her leg.

There was a third foosh that came from somewhere in front of Misaki, the forest now completely closed around them leaving the pair with no room to move.

"I would suggest you stand as still as possible." Misaki said, more foliage starting to wrap around her waist.

The forest, furious now, climbed their bodies.

A vine was over Misaki's mouth and as a branch scraped against her bad arm, she yelped, the sound stifled by the vine.

Another vine was over her eyes now, but the blue flame that seared it away blinded Misaki for a moment.

Screaming in rage around them, the forest pulled back for the moment.

As soon as she was free, Misaki dropped to her knees, clutching her arm as she felt blood trickling down it.

Coahtu stood to Kurama's right, the kitsune nodding thanks as her fiery hair began to settle down from her exertions.

"Do not thank me yet. There is still one left if he has not been eaten already."

There was a clear, burnt path behind where she stood and Yusuke stumbled through it to where Misaki and Kurama were, Kuwabara and Yukina also following the paths she incinerated for them, Yukina moving to Kuwabara's clearing, the two of them getting to Yusuke's clearing until finally all six of them were in the same area.

Coahtu walked east, standing in front of Kurama. Her hair flamed up again and whirled around her like scorching armor as she set off east, burning a path for them to follow.

The others stayed close behind Coahtu, though far enough away that they were not burnt themselves.

Misaki rose when they were all but gone, her arm still searing with pain and her vision wavering, to staggering after them.

The forest had pulled back from Hiei in anticipation of the fire-woman.

He hung upside down from the branch of a tall tree, body completely wrapped in vines, his eyes closed and his body limp.

Coahtu raised a smoldering finger and pointed at the thick cluster of vines Hiei was suspended from.

She didn't even have to burn through it, the forest dropped Hiei to the ground.

"You aren't a quick learner, but you do learn." She spoke to the forest.

It moaned in agony at her.

Everyone ran forward, save for Coahtu. Misaki hung back behind the fire-wielding creature as the inferno around her began to wane until her hair blazed in its normal fashion down her back.

"Hiei, are you alright?" Yukina knelt down over him.

At his name, the fire youkai's eyes flew open, the strange effect the forest had on him now relinquished.

"Nothing hurt but his pride I'm sure." Misaki mumbled to herself.

"Get back mortals. You will never free him from those bindings."

They all took a good large step away from Hiei.

Her hair flamed blue as fire shot forth from her outstretched hand and engulfed the body of Hiei.

He was completely covered by the roaring firestorm for several seconds.

He got up when the fire disappeared, his body and clothes completely intact.

"Impressive." Kurama regarded Coahtu with respect.

"She has decent control and can do an acceptable job. When the need arises." Misaki allowed. She stood more firmly now, her arm still hurting but the pangs had lessened.

Coathu glared at Misaki contemptuously.

"So ,are you going to burn us a way through or do I need to show you up?" Misaki asked her.

Coahtu didn't respond.

Misaki shrugged her good shoulder and walked around Coahtu, facing east and raising her hand, palm facing the forest trees as she closed her eyes.

There was an obvious surge of energy and her eyes came open in surprise. A long path was open in front of her, trees sizzling and the ground an ashy color.

She didn't plan on actually doing anything and so logically she turned around, seeing Coahtu lower her hand.

Misaki received another nasty look from Coahtu as the woman passed her, taking the now-clear passage. Misaki stuck her tongue out at her, no one else was privy to this occurrence, and as Coahtu walked by she put her hand in front of Misaki's face and stopped abruptly, flame dancing around her fingertips.

"You wouldn't dare." Misaki smirked.

"Do not try my patience, Ansatsusha." The arm came down and Coahtu continued walking forward, Misaki following after a few feet and the others coming with her.

They traveled exponentially faster with Coahtu around.

After the initial blast from Coahtu's hand, the forest practically fell over itself to open up a path, not desiring any further confrontation while she was around.

However, the path closed up quickly behind the group, reminding them that it would only be too eager to swallow them whole should they dally too long.

They came upon a cave, walking just inside of it before Coahtu stopped and brushed past them all back into the forest.

"My thanks." Misaki said as she left.

Coahtu only nodded, disappearing into the gloom.

"Now what?" Kuwabara wanted to know, watching as their only hope of traversing the woods left them.

"We keep going."

"Into the cave?" Yusuke regarded the stone walls around them.

"No, back into the forest." Misaki's face was expressionless.

Yusuke scrutinized her face, "Are you serious?"

"No. We're going back into the forest."

"You've got to be kidding me." Kuwabara had put Yukina down.

"Yes. Yes I am." Her dead-pan tone hadn't changed as she began walking into the cave.

"Seriously!" Kuwabara's jaw dropped, "We barely made it through to here and now the fire-lady is gone!"

"No. That was called sarcasm, Kuwabara. Get moving." Misaki's back was rapidly disappearing.

"Which direction?" Kuwabara was confused.

Yukina was already behind Misaki.

"Which direction do you think, idiot?" Hiei followed after Yukina.

"Unless you would like to stay here and watch the forest for us." Kurama said over his shoulder as he too began walking deeper into the cave.

Both Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at each other, then at the seething, leering woods behind them, noticing that vines were snaking through the air towards them.

"I think I'll pass on that one!" Yusuke announced, running after the others.

The forest pouted as its prey disappeared, but not one to give up so easily, it reached into the cave, slowly creeping after them.

-lotsm