"Talking"
"Thinking"
-Telepathisis-
Flashback
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Chapter Fifteen
Enter the Land Dead
Kurai raises an eyebrow at me. "I'm assuming..."
"I have little knowledge of computers." I mutter as I hesitantly click the blinking icon, then wince when it appears to shut down. "For the love of--"
"Chill." She takes the mouse from me and clicks several things in rapid succession; the program then reappears and seems to be functional. "When we get back home, I'll show ya how to work it. For now, just do what I do."
"...alright." I mumble before doing so.
Amazingly, I survive this 'technology' class.
0x0x0x0
"So..." Kuwabara mutters.
"Shut up, idiot." Hiei snaps.
Kimi and Artemis roll their eyes but remain silent; Yusuke sighs; Sora frowns; Kurama shifts silently.
"Alright, that's it." Yusuke rises, picks up a rock and hurls it at the barrier. Only his quick reflexes save him from being brained.
The bluette cautiously raises herself up on one elbow. "Are you going to do that again?"
The brown eyed boy awards her a flat look. "No."
"Good." Sora mumbles as he sits up; Artemis does so as well.
Kurama glances at the barrier, then at Kimi. "Do you know how to break it?"
"No."
Sora groans, his patience worn thin. "Kimi, cut the crap and make a hole in the barrier so we can finish this and go home."
"I'm not letting anyone through until I find out what the hell is going on." She replies flatly. "It's called the 'land dead' for a reason, and, if possible, I'll avoid showing you why."
"We may as well." Comments a familiar voice as Kat walks into view. The irate demoness rises; the two argue for a few moments, though it is apparent that Kimi is losing.
"Fine." She mutters rebelliously. "But if I get bitched at for what happens or what could happen, I'm taking limbs." She draws a sai from each boot; they are old, ornate and much different from the ones she usually uses. Runes carved into the weapons light up and begin to peel themselves off it. "Eximo: Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Incendia." The girl murmurs before calmly slicing the barrier with the sai; it splits cleanly and soon there is a gap large enough for all of them to slip through. All do so before Kimi follows. It closes behind them, looking the same as it had before it was cleaved open. "Alright, genius. Now what?"
"Now we find Jin and Touya." Kurama supplies.
"I believe it is we who found you." Touya states coldly; Jin floats behind him on a cushion of air. "Have you come to surrender?"
"No." The fox demon summons his whip; Hiei unsheathes his sword; Sora calmly starts swinging the scythe in a circle to make use of centrifugal force; Kuwabara summons his spirit sword; Yusuke's finger tip begins to glow.
Touya summons his ice sword. "The first of you to die..." He scans their group, smirking maliciously. "...will be her." He suddenly lunges at Kimi, intent on spearing her head with his sword. The tip of it stops, a hair's breath from entering her head; the other ice demon's arm is shaking badly, but it will not move forward.
Kat smirks; a moment later, a purple arcane symbol appears on both their foreheads. It blazes but is slowly turning silver. Stripes of other colors enter it as the others find the hole in the spell caused by Kat's interference. The symbols, which are steadily becoming blue and silver, suddenly flare purple again. Both boys smirk; the runes then become blue-silver before shattering. Kimi calmly catches Touya; Kat supports the unconscious Jin.
"That was too easy..." Kat murmurs as she scans him for injuries.
"Speak for yourself." Sora grumbles.
"I suggest we get moving." Kurama is pleased, almost smugly so, that his plan went so well.
"No can do." Kat interrupts. "Jin won't survive crossing the barrier."
All gape at the wound in Jin's left arm; it has not been treated and is rotting.
"Got any other bright ideas?" The blue eyed boy inquires of Kurama.
Kimi rolls her eyes before tying a bandanna over them.
"Genius." Kat mutters.
"Shut it. This was your idea." She sighs. "To the Citadel?"
"That or the vault."
"And have those idiots set off every trap in the place? Hell no." The girl who now has contacts melted to her corneas calmly begins to march off. Artemis and Sora follow. Kat pauses for a moment, sighs, shifts Jin into a position that will be more comfortable for him and then joins their silent march.
"Where are you guys going?" Kuwabara questions.
"Somewhere safe where we can rest." The brunette carrying Jin replies. The human redhead shrugs and follows; Yusuke soon does as well. Hiei darts ahead to scout while Kurama hesitates. With a sigh, the other redhead throws away his misgivings at join them.
0x0x0x0
Kimi stops short; the others stop as well.
"What?" Kat grumbles.
"Where are we going?" There is an odd tone in her voice.
"To a safe place."
"And where are those places?" The odd tone persists.
"Where else would they--oh..." Kat sighs. "Right. Bad idea."
"Now--"
Both ignore the question, shift direction and keep going. Kat is calm; Kimi, however is extremely on edge; between Jin's rotting injury, her inflicting it on him, her (hopefully) temporary blindness, her home turf being more dangerous than any place in demon world and the fact that she has to get them all out safely, it's a wonder she hasn't lost it by now.
"Any ideas where to go?" Sora questions softly as the grumblings of the others reaches them.
"I know where." She mutters. "I just wish everyone would quit bitching about having to walk there."
"Your sudden change of direction is making them question whether or not to trust your judgment." He mumbles in reply.
"If they think they can do better on my home turf, they're nuts. They are, however, welcome to try and get lost, killed or both." The demoness snaps.
0x0x0x0
"...I don't think we'll all fit in there." The blue eyed boy murmurs as he stares at what appears to be a tiny shed. All three girls roll their eyes at him before opening the door and walking in. The others pause; he is the first to enter. At his muffled shout of surprise, they rush in.
The 'tiny' shed is huge. There are comfortable bunk beds, about twenty in all; a fully stocked kitchen/pantry is beyond that; there are four functional showers, two tubs and six toilets.
"What is this place?" Kuwabara questions as they inspect the area.
"An army outpost." Kimi replies as she cleans off a lower bunk and settles the unconscious Touya on it. She then assists Kat with Jin; Artemis disappears into the area beyond the bathrooms and returns with bandages and antiseptics.
"Thanks." The distracted healers say as they tend their patient. When they finish, the rot is gone, though it is still open and infected.
0x0x0x0
Kurama finds the cooking supplies and food to be well preserved, so he cooks up a hasty meal. All, save Kimi, Kat, Artemis, Jin and Touya, enter the kitchen and partake in said meal.
Kat blinks. "Kimi."
"Hm?" She glances up from bandaging Jin's injury.
"They've cooked something." The other replies.
"Wh--oh shit." The bluette races for the kitchen and swears like a guardsman upon seeing the empty plates.
"Chill, we saved you some." Kuwabara grumbles.
She grits her teeth. "The army in general was not fond of...a certain resident. They put a chemical in their food that, unless prepared a certain way, would make the one who consumed it ill." When she notes the looks on their faces, she sighs. "Said resident was a thief."
"It's geared towards animal demons, though, isn't it?" Sweat stands out on Sora's forehead.
Kimi sighs. "Not the majority of them..."
"Great." The blue eyed boy mutters. "What will it do?"
"At the moment, I'm hoping it hasn't mutated into something that will kill him." Grumbling about idiots, she digs around for the bunch of herbs she left here.
"Which him?" Yusuke inquires, a hint of hysteria in his voice; all the others rise from their chairs and move away from the table.
"Three...two...one..." She counts down mentally; Kurama crumples to the floor but she catches him before carrying him back out to the sleeping area and placing him on a lower bunk.
"Take him to the infirmary." Kat commands.
"Why?" Yusuke and the others are wary.
"Otherwise you'll just be running back and forth for supplies." Kat states as she finishes Kimi's original task of bandaging Jin's arm.
"Why didn't you warn us before?" Kuwabara growls.
"Because I didn't expect you to charge into the kitchen and start eating!" The blue haired girl snaps. "Besides, in case you hadn't noticed, I was a bit preoccupied with healing Jin's arm."
"Will this--"
"Shut up and go." Is Hiei's input.
Muttering, she complies.
0x0x0x0
"What're his chances?" Yusuke paces while Hiei, Sora, Kuwabara and Artemis observe.
"I'll say this: his chance of survival would not be higher if the King's healers were tending him." Kat offers as she quietly rearranges furniture to block off the entrance.
"The King's?" Kuwabara interrupts.
She pauses, eyes shadowed. "The King was one of the oldest demons alive. The current rulers are mere babes compared to him."
"Why is Kimi better than them?" Yusuke snaps. "They're the elite if I'm reading the way you're talking about them right."
"Power and training are of no consequence when it comes to healing." The reply is, surprisingly, from Artemis.
"Yeah." Sora's smile is slight. "The bond with the patient is what's important."
"Of all of us, he's the one she gets along with the least." Yusuke mutters.
"Not exactly..." Sora supplies hesitantly. "She knew both of us as who we used to be...so she has a stronger bond with him than almost everyone here..."
"Saving you and myself, that is." Kat corrects.
"Why didn't she just say so?" Kuwabara grumbles.
"Because he's missing 1,000 years of memory...and most of the ones of her were during that 1,000 years."
0x0x0x0
"What's..." Comes the soft croak from the bed.
Kimi calmly removes the cold compress, slips an arm around him and helps him sit up; she then places a cup of water at his lips. He sips carefully.
"Relax. I made sure it didn't have the chemical in it." She assures. When he finishes, she places the cup on the table beside the bed.
"Where are we?" His voice is scratchy, despite the soothing effect the water has on his throat.
"The infirmary. I found the antidote for the chemical and tested it; it should be safe to administer."
"Tested it on who?"
"Do you see anyone else here?" Is the resigned retort.
For a moment, he can only stare. He then splutters out a, "you?"
"Actually, that would be pointless. Anything administered directly to my bloodstream, save a saline solution, is pretty much instantly dissolved. Artemis volunteered."
"I may be slow at learning the traditional healing methods, but I've heard of this one." Grumbles a voice above them.
"She insisted on exploring the ventilation system." The blank faced demoness mutters.
"Ow, watch it." Comes another familiar voice.
"Sora?"
"Went with her."
He stares when he hears the slight catch in her voice, then realizes she's trying not to laugh. "They're..."
"So I assume." A playful grin darts across her face. "Or they're at least intrigued by each other."
There is silence for a few moments. "You drew the short straw?"
She rolls her eyes and ignores that comment. "Despite Artemis's lack of reaction, I'd rather not give you the antidote unless I have to."
"...I'm assuming you have another idea."
"Yep. I wanted to ask your permission first...though I am kinda already doing it."
"What?" He asks wearily.
"Well, I used my energy to filter most of the chemical out of your bloodstream...but it'll still be almost two weeks before you should be up and moving again." She can sense the dismay for him easily. "Relax. If you don't mind my solution, it'll be a little less than a week."
"If I go missing for that long, my mother..." He stops and decides he would rather talk sitting up. She wordlessly assists him, then positions the pillows to support him; he gives her a nod of thanks. "What is it, anyway?"
She sighs, then rolls up her sleeve.
"Where are your beads?" Kurama reaches a hand out and touches the spot where they normally are; no cold, round spheres meet his finger tips, so he knows it's not an illusion. He frowns, as he has never seen her without them before.
"They're around your neck."
With a start, his fingers come into contact with the beads; they are the same temperature as his skin. "Why..." He breaks off as he feels aura stirring inside the beads.
"When I first began training, my primary concern was with increasing my aura; my teachers obliged me. It's assumed that my rapid accumulation of aura is what rendered me unable to control all of it at once. Kuronue crafted those beads to contain my aura; they currently hold about half."
Comprehension dawns. "That's why you're always faster than a D class should be..."
"Yep." She grins slightly. "I'm a few levels below the rest of you." A small sigh escapes her. "Anyway, if I manipulate the aura I have in there, it will help repair the damage done by the chemical...but you'll have to wear the beads for a bit afterwards to make the healing stick."
He nods his assent; nearly instantaneously, a wave of warmth encompasses him.
"My power can only be used to heal or summon ice." She murmurs. "I rarely use my healing power, so when I do, it tends to be a little over eager."
He nods tiredly as he begins to slip into the realm of unconsciousness.
The last thing he hears is, "hey, watch where you put your hands!"
0x0x0x0
"I still don't get why Koenma's making me do this..."
"Simple." Kurai has finished her instructions involving the evil mechanical box. "If you don't have to go, and we do, that'll foster resentment. Add in the fact that it makes less paper work, and you can see why Koenma did it."
"It's all about paper work to him..." I mumble as I successfully "search the web".
"Look on the bright side."
I give her a flat look.
"Yeah, I know, I'll stop being all 'be optimistic' after this."
I sigh. "What?"
"He can't make you go to school again 'cuz your file will say you completed high school."
"...true." I agree, grinning slightly as I locate my quarry. "Why do you guys have webpages, anyway?"
-x-x-x-x-
Lulz. Too much fun with this chapter. I was so psyched to poison Kurama Oo;; (Yes, you may punch/hit/kick/etc. me now X3)
Anyways, hope you enjoyed.
Emma
PS: Kaiba was sent home...at the request of said friend X3