Oasis
Chapter Two: Hunting Scents
"So are we going to the Demon World or the Human World, Faye?"
I glanced at Yusuke before opening the manila folder I had taken from Koenma's office. My tail danced around me even as I leaned the rest of my body against the wall behind me.
"Well…It says here that Aruai found the place somewhere near Mukuro's territory. I assume you know where that is?"
My answer was a sudden scoff and, "The hell I know where she is! She keeps changing her damn spot!"
I sighed while shaking my head.
"You know, for being the ruler of one of the three areas, you sure don't know a lot."
"Are you trying to pick a fight with me you stupid wolf!"
I closed the manila folder and turned my head to glare at the half demon. He obviously wanted to have a fight with someone, but I highly doubted it was me. Apparently, since I'm a girl, Kuwabara won't let him fight me. I can't tell you how many arguments we've had because of that.
"Need I remind you of the one time I nearly chopped your head off?" I growled to him.
Yusuke opened his mouth to say something else when the sound of footsteps silenced him. We both turned our heads to see it was Kuwabara with Kurama and Hiei lagging behind the rest. My ears twitched as they halted right in front of the two of us and I grinned at the red head.
"Took you guys long enough! I just had to change out of my pajamas. What's your excuse?" I inquired.
"There's a scary dog in my room and it took me forever to find some clothes." Kuwabara answered.
"I was searching for Hiei." Kurama stated.
I looked towards the fire demon but I didn't expect an answer from him. The boy had hardly talked to me since I started hanging around the group. I turned my lips up in a smile before my tail wagged just a little to show my enthusiasm.
"Well, since I'm the only one that was here on time, I think we should leave Botan behind."
"Hey! I was here with you the entire-!"
"I believe you are right, Faye. She may take longer than necessary." Kurama agreed.
I nodded and turned towards the door that I had been waiting near. Yusuke was yelling at me that I hadn't been talking to the air the entire time I had been standing here and I ignored him easily.
My hand reached for the doorknob when I heard the bubbly voice of Botan calling. My ears twitched and my red eyes turned to glance down the hallway. Sure enough, here she came running with her oar in hand.
"We better hurry. This is a one way trip and it'll be sealed off as soon as we're through." I said while twisting the knob.
The door immediately swung outwards and I watched as the males eagerly rushed into the passageway, only to disappear when they stepped over the frame.
"Faye! Wait! Koenma forgot to tell you that-!"
I walked through the door without even listening to her words- which I knew I'd come to regret later –and the world shifted in my eyes.
Everything went out of focus for what felt like hours and bright colors jabbed me in the eyes. I smelled the over-bearing scent of lemons and I reached up to plug my nose. The thing I touched was definitely not my nose because what I felt was all fur. My ears or tail.
God this transportation thingy is so disorienting. I can't tell what's left or right!
A deep plunge inside my stomach immediately told me that I was going to be sick. I started to reach towards that part of my body when my fingers brushed against the fabric of my sleeves. I groaned in annoyance before squeezing my eyes shut and trying to cover my ears. I gave up the latter when I kept touching my shoulders and breasts.
"Make it stop…!" I whined.
I felt hands grab my elbows two minutes later and my eyes opened hastily. I looked up to see that it was Kurama and he stared down at me in worry. His emerald eyes asked silently if I was okay as I noticed the transportation had ceased, leaving all of us to stand on a giant cliff.
"Hey Kurama! How's Faye holding up?" Yusuke's voice called out to us.
I felt my stomach drop once again and my hands flew to my mouth. I tore free from the fox demon and shoved passed Kuwabara and Yusuke. Both yelled at me to calm down but I didn't hear them as I came to the very edge of the cliff. I was able to get on my knees before my lunch was flung out of me. It fell in an awfully nasty liquid mess down to the very ground that was a long distance away from where we were.
"I don't think she held it up well…" Kuwabara's voice drummed.
"No shit," Yusuke snapped.
Their voices pounded against my head and it was all I could do to cover my ears while tucking my tail around me. Someone put a comforting hand on my shoulder and I looked up slowly to see it was Kurama. I would have been glad to see that he was the sensible one that was trying to help me except for the brightness of his red hair.
My stomach dropped once more and I groaned while spewing up what I could only assume was water or something of the like.
"Faye-?"
"Oh god, don't talk to me…I feel so sick." I told everyone as I pressed my head against the ground.
It hurt so bad I thought someone had driven a hammer through my eyes and straight to my brain before coming out the other end. I forced myself to take deep, soothing breaths as I nudged at my demonic energy. It quickly began twirling around me in an unseen dance and I felt it healing my throbbing head. The emptiness I had in my stomach was the next thing to go away and I was glad for that. When I knew that I wouldn't throw up anymore, I got to my feet while swaying back and forth. Someone snatched my elbow to keep me balanced and I turned my head to see that it was Kurama.
"You feel better Faye?" Kuwabara asked.
"Much! I'm just not used to traveling outside of my garden. It actually feels like you're weightless- not like what we just went through." I told him.
"You mean there's a different type of transportation besides the one the toddler rigged up?" Yusuke questioned.
"Yeah, it's Fae magic. I can appear anywhere in the world when I want and it's one of the most gentle when you use transportation."
I turned my head to stare out at the area around us. My nose took in different scents that I recognized from a hazy memory of the last time I had been here, in the Demon World. But because of how long ago that had been, I didn't wonder what could be lurking in what I smelled.
"Kurama, did Koenma say what Aruai smells like?"
"That's not creepy." Kuwabara muttered sarcastically, making me glare at him.
"If I know what smells he has, I can detect him anywhere in the three worlds you damn idiot," I snapped. "The same goes for all of you. As long as I can recognize your scents, I'll always find you."
"You could have just said that…" The orange haired teen mumbled.
"I did. You just weren't listening." I growled before shifting my eyes towards the red head.
I waited expectantly as he searched through his memories of this morning to figure out if we were told the demon's scent. It wasn't long before I noticed the light bulb in his eyes before he smiled down at me proudly.
"I believe Koenma said that it was honey and lilacs." He informed me.
I sighed to myself in annoyance. I loved the smell and taste of honey, but did he really need to smell like lilacs as well? Those flowers weren't strong smelling at all. It lacked what I thought was loving aromas like roses. That didn't mean I couldn't find Aruai.
Reverting to my black wolf form, I raised my head higher to the sky.
"Just give me a minute or two. If he's around here, I'll find him." I hope.
I closed my red eyes and filled my nose with all the scents that the wind carried towards me. I tasted blood from a demon, a rich smell of grapes, and many other things. I was about to give up when I finally found what I had been searching for.
"I found the demon! Follow me before he realizes and hides!" I yelped before running away from the cliff.
Hiei was at my side without an inclination for slowing down. Kurama and Yusuke were at my tail, keeping up with the two of us with ease. But Kuwabara was the slowest of all.
"Wait guys! Slow down!" He screamed to us.
"Get your ass in gear and move faster!" I heard Yusuke scream.
I shook my head but made sure to keep the scent of honey and lilacs inside me. If I let it slip now, there was nothing I could do to find it again.
We reached the bottom of the cliff and were just bursting into the forest when I heard the sudden splash of water to my far right. Spinning on my heels as fast as lightning, I went in that direction. No one expected it, but they managed to copy my movement, though a little sloppy.
I lunged through a big healthy brush and my paws slammed onto nothing. I had just enough time to look down to see that there was crystal clear water underneath me. I reverted to my far more human side in time to feel someone catch my arms. They pulled me away from the water and my tail just barely brushed the tip to feel a searing pain on them.
I bit back a scream but I still yanked myself free and started rubbing and wiping the water off of my tail. Where several strands of my hair had touched, I saw acid was slowly eating away at it like that game Yusuke is always played- Pac-Man or something.
"Why'd you stop?" Said boy questioned.
I looked up at him before turning to stare at the water that I had found. How could it be so beautiful, but be as deadly as a snake?
"I don't know if it's Aruai's trick or something, but that water has become tainted. I can't touch it, or it will eat me alive and destroy me." I replied.
"So…it's not your garden?" Kuwabara asked, even though he was out of breath.
"Obviously! My garden would never do that to me, even if it was tainted!" I barked.
I frowned while getting to my feet then.
"The only question now…is how we're going to un-taint it without me touching it." I growled before biting my thumb, almost making it bleed.
God! And I thought just hunting the demon down was going to be the hard part…