Into this cold harsh world
Kurama...
We were finally able to rest after we left the long winding tunnels of that cave. Jade was able to lead the way thus far, much to my appreciation. We had to keep going for sometime before stopping at a tiny fishing shack in the middle of an icy lake. The color there was just as magnificently blue as the long trench, but luckily, the storm had stopped just as we arrived. When we were finally able to see the sky, every breath was taken away as we looked in awe at the ribbons of light that streaked above in so many vivid bright colors. Some even seemed to collide and explode into a star-burst of shimmering hues, giving the effect that the stars were fighting for space in the sky. There are not enough words to describe just how beautiful it was. It's a wonder why the northerners would ever want to leave such a place.
Then I remembered their freak weather patterns.
"We need to get inside quick, before it gets dark out. Faeries aren't the only things out here that we need to worry about." Jade warned us, beckoning us to follow her to the tiny shack. As if on cue, we heard something akin to a wolf's howl fill the frozen air, accompanied by a grand chorus of them.
"Yeah, I'd hate to be eaten by wolves out here." Yusuke stated, his cheesy grin on his face.
"Actually, slick." Emmie started. "Those things are tame compared to the giant hares."
"You mean rabbits?"
"You ain't seen nothin' yet, slick." Emmie said once again, a mischievous grin on her face.. It seems to be here go-to phrase for all of our questions about the Northern Islands. "Those hairs could swallow you hole. Sparky here would be a bite-sized snack."
"And what would you be? A snow pea on a fork?" Hiei retorted. Emmie just stuck out her tongue with a grunted "bleh".
"Let's try to get some sleep guys. I'll wake us up when it's no longer dark out." Jade took out a few blankets for all of us.
"It's dark now!" Yusuke complained.
"Give it half an hour. You'll see."
And we did. The beautiful colors we witnessed, the ones that would sparkle and flow inside the tiny hut, all of a sudden just cut out as if a switch had been flipped. We all looked outside to see that it was pitch black. Not a single flicker of light could be seen for what felt like hours. Not a single sign of life had been detected. We could only hear the howls.
Even though it felt like sub-zero temperatures, Jade had told us not to put up a fire. It would apparently attract whatever it was out there. I took one of the blankets that Jade had pulled out of her back pack, deciding it was better to try and sleep. Yusuke had already passed out along with Emmie. I saw Hiei take perch on one of the banisters overhead, fiddling with some sort of blue string tied to his wrist. Jade kept watch out of the window, her eyes were glowing a deep forest green. "You sure you don't want me to take first watch?" I asked.
Her eyes shifted in my direction, the light that came from her eyes only brightened. "Depends. How well can you see in the dark?"
"Not as well as a cat I imagine."
"Then you won't be very good at this. I can still see color even though there's not a strand of light to go by. It's better if I stay up. So it's fine. You sleep. It wouldn't be the first time I've had to pull an all-nighter." She winked before turning back to the window, popping a piece of chewing gum in her mouth.
I turned over, laying my head on my hand before finally letting sleep claim me.
...
"GET UP NOW!" Everyone bolted straight up at Jade's voice. "We gotta go!" I looked out the window to see shining orbs of light pushing against the pane of glass, the brilliant sky blue color looking white hot.
"What's going on?" Yusuke shouted, he was barely audible over the deafening buzzing that came from outside. It sounded like a swarm of giant bees was just outside of the tiny hut.
Emmie wasted no time blasting a hole through on of the walls. "Let's GO!" She waved for us to follow. Everyone ran out, I called upon my whip, preparing myself for a fight.
"Blast em, Emmie!" Jade shouted, grabbing at mine and Yusuke's sleeves, leading us away. I looked back to see Hiei and Emmie throw fire and lightning at the swarming orbs of blue, incinerating them, but more only showed up. Yusuke stop for just a moment to let out a barage of his spirit energy shouting "SHOTGUN!" to try and alleviate the number within the swarm.
"Just keep running." Jade urged us on. Hiei and Emmie were at our heels, flinging whatever they could behind us. Some approached us from the front, but were quickly disbanded by my whip as it tore through them like hot butter, but more and more kept coming.
The running was difficult enough, but the pitch black darkness made it hard for me to know where exactly I was placing my feet. I could barely make out the nose in front of my face. The only source of light was the iridescent blue and flashes of red hot fire and white hot lightning. We were urged on until we found ourselves at the edge of a cliff with no where to go. I stopped, grabbing Jade's arm, not wanting to let her trip.
"Don't just stand there!" Emmie pushed at my back. "Jump!" Jade pulled both Yusuke and I over the cliff where we fell and fell and fell. I looked up to see that Emmie and Hiei were falling right after us, the orbs of blue stayed at the top of the cliff and slowly the light disappeared as we neared the end of our journey.
I didn't even feel the impact.
...
I heard my name being called.
Over and over again.
There was a gentle tapping at my face that I could feel. It was starting to annoy me. I finally opened my eyes, the dizzying blur refusing to dissipate.
"HEY! You ok?" I was blinded by Emmie's bright yellow clothing.
I shook my head trying to relieve the nausea. "Yes, I'm fine."
She gave a sigh of relief. "That's good. Would hate for you to die on us before we even reached the capital." She said, grinning the entire time.
"Where are.."
"Oh, they're fine. They woke up a few minutes before you did. Yusuke's got a big bump on his head, but other than that, no other injuries." Emmie held out her hand for me to take. Though she was a tiny little slip of a girl, she certainly had a grip on her. She was able to pull me up with a bit of leverage with ease.
I looked up the cliff we had fallen from and I couldn't even see the top. It was just a white fog above us. "How far did we fall?"
"Oh, I'd say about thirty to fifty stories. Maybe more." She said matter-of-factly.
I paled. "You're joking. How did we survive?"
"Soft landing?" She shrugged. "I mean there is a lot of snow." She gestured to the surrounding blanket of white.
"Oh, good! You're still alive" Jade approached with Yusuke in tow, some gauze wrapped around his head.
"Glad you made it, Kurama." He gave me a thumbs up.
"Same to you. Where's Hiei?" I asked.
"Just up ahead. We need to catch up. I can feel another storm coming." Jade replied as she beckoned all of us to follow her. "It shouldn't be too much trouble though. We are almost to the main island."
We continued to trek on for another five hours, the lights in the sky starting to flicker back to life. The brilliant hues allowing us to bask in their glow as they once again shimmered across the sky, but before I drank in my fill of them, Jade stopped us just as we neared the edge of another cliff that overlooked another long trench. In the distance we could see glowing lights as if from a big city like Tokyo. There was a wall that surrounded it that looked as if it was made of snow, and I could barely make out the presence of guards that patrolled the top of it.
"Gentlemen, and brat." Jade looked to Emmie. "I present to you the city of AoYuki. The capital of the Northern Islands."
"Incredible." I said. "But how are we going to get in?"
"You won't like it." Jade replied.
"Yeah... this is gonna stink." Emmie's face contorted into a grimace.
"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something, Emmie." Yusuke looked down to the petite girl in yellow, both of their faces red from the cold.
"Yeah?"
"You and your sister were banished from the human world right?"
"Actually, it was just me, but Nina loves me too much to leave me to my own devices."
Jade snorted. "No, she wanted to make sure you didn't get into anymore trouble. Mem and I had to post pone a lot of our plans because of that you know." She glared at her younger cousin.
"Excuse me if I was only speaking the truth." Emmie placed her hands on her hips indignantly.
"The truth about what?" I asked.
"It's nothing. Emmie just spoke out of turn towards King Yama." Jade tried to dismiss the conversation. "You know how uppity the big guy gets."
"Yay, Mr. Reign of Terror. Can't wait till he's canned." Emmie mumbled the last part, but I was able to pick up on it. "What?" She looked to Jade, a furious expression on her face.
"Nothing."
"Are we just going to stand here, or are we going to go and kill the bitch?" I turned to Hiei, is mood I could tell, was growing very impatient by the second.
"Hiei's right." Jade took a few steps forward. "If we're going to do this, we need to go now. If Hiei is right about that birthday being this month instead of December, then we have a LOT of catching up to do. Come on."
I don't know what it was, but a small fleeting feeling had washed over me, just something that felt amiss. It was that same feeling I had when we had to get Hiei out of that girl's chamber. The feeling that a huge piece of the puzzle was missing, that there was far more to this Aoitsuki than what's being let on. I don't know what it is yet, but I have a feeling that we are about to be caught in something far larger than some sort of world domination plot or a path of vengeance. I just have no clue what it could be, and as I looked to the two Fubuki Sisters with us, I have a strange feeling that they know more than what they let on. So only one question remains...
Are they truly our allies?
TBC...