Chapter 17

"Internal Wars"

It had been three weeks since we arrived at the cave complex. Koenma seemed to be doing his job, as we hadn't had a single visitor. I hadn't had a single vision or "feeling" or anything, and Hiei and I were either training, eating, sleeping, fighting, or making love. Natalie and Kurama were constantly all googly-eyed and perfect-couplish (cute…but somewhat annoying). I was starting to get used to Hiei's constant mood swings, and just let any insults he threw at me slide right off. We all continued with our lessons, and I had almost completely mastered the whole "wind thing." The only thing left was…

Flying.

I was both excited and extremely nervous as the sun came up, marking the end of the third week and the beginning of the day of my first "test-flight." I could levitate a few feet off the ground, but only for about three seconds. The guys believed that if I thought that I was really in a life-threatening situation, it would just sort of…turn on.

So. What's the most clichéd thing one could possibly think of?

Throwing me off of a REALLY high cliff!!…this was where I began to groan and beg "Please! There must be some other way!! Anything but that!!"…Okay, not really, but I wasn't exactly thrilled about it. Neither was Hiei, as it brought up the memory of his last journey over a cliff. He was so upset that he didn't even show up when I was about to make my freefall ten minutes later.

"Come on, Sarah," Yusuke rooted, "We know you can do it."

"Yeah," cheered Kuwabara. "You've been able to do just about everything else so far."

Kurama and Natalie joined in with the cheers. A shrill cry echoed through the air, reminding me of the large phoenix, Puu, who had joined us only two days ago. The plan was that I would ride on Puu with the others for a few minutes, then levitate just long enough for the giant bird to swoop from underneath me, leaving nothing between me and the ground two thousand feet below. (Okay, so I wasn't exactly falling off of a cliff…but it's similar!!) I was still pissed at Hiei for not showing up. I mean, how childish could he possibly get. Oh well.

I climbed onto the bird with the help of Yusuke, who was already on. We helped everyone else on, and then Puu leapt off the ledge with another deafening shriek. I delighted in the sight of the beautiful forest below me, before getting into my little Buddhist position and meditating. I let the wind that was thrashing against me be pulled into my body, releasing it and directing it to the ground below. Being this high up, it took a lot of wind power and concentration. I was sweating before I knew it. I felt the warmth of Puu's feathered body be replaced by freezing cold air and I knew that I was levitating. I continued to concentrate, trying very hard not to think of the ground, Hiei, fear, or anything but the movement of the air. Finally, when I felt comfortable, I opened my eyes.

I was considerably lower, but still maintaining my height. I had expected that I would drop a little before I was comfortable enough to let my mind wander, but not this much. Oh well, the important thing was…

"I'm flying!!!" I yelled in delight and spread out my body Peter Pan style, absolutely loving the feeling of that weightlessness, that ability to go anywhere and do anything. I heard cheers and harsh echoes to my right, and saw that the others were at least twenty feet away. I decided to give them a show and flipped in the air, only to find myself spiraling toward the ground. Panicked, I resumed my meditating position and quickly regained my balance.

"Guess I'm not quite ready for tricks yet," I mumbled to myself, mortified. Luckily, the others decided not to rub it in my face (only because Natalie and Kurama glared at Yusuke and Kuwabara, daring them to say something). I continued to soar and was feeling incredible, when something happened. It was the worst thing that could happen at that particular moment.

I lost consciousness as pain filled my body and I was consumed by visions.

***

"SARAH!!!" Everyone yelled as she plummeted toward the ground five hundred feet below, a look of terror on her face.

"Don't worry," Kurama shouted, looking like he needed to take his own advice. "Hiei's been following us this entire way on foot to make sure that he can catch her if she falls."

"Well she's falling right now!!!" screamed Natalie, still panicking.

"And Hiei will catch her…LOOK!" said the redhead, pointing as a small black figure sprung up from the trees (at least fifty feet into the air…man, he's a good jumper!!) and fell back down, another small figure (Sarah) in his arms.

Hiei watched in horror as the girl fell toward him like a missile. Everything had been going so perfectly, and then it just stopped…what had happened?! His question was answered as he leapt from the trees and grabbed hold of the convulsing body. Her face was distorted in an all-too-familiar way, only this time…

Her eyes were completely black.

It took him a moment to realize that it was just because her pupils had dilated to their max, creating a demonic look (no pun intended). A scream erupted from the figure as fake blood gushed from it in several places. He refused to put her down, even though she was thrashing around in his grip, unintentionally slashing his body, adding his blood to the mix. He had never seen her have one this bad, and he had no idea what to do. Whatever it was, it was also taking much longer than any of her other ones. It had already lasted over ten minutes, and they were back at the cave, waiting for the Puu bunch. He went inside and laid her down as soon as he got to their room. She still had not stopped screaming and was getting hoarse along with the horrible stench of her own blood (she had injured herself many times despite Hiei's attempts to restrain her).

Only a few seconds later, the fox showed up, running in to see why Sarah was making those horrible choking noises. He was followed by Yusuke, then Natalie, and finally Kuwabara. Hiei quickly explained what he had seen. "What's going on here, fox?!" the frantic fire demon demanded.

"I'm not sure," replied the redhead, rubbing his temples in strained thought as Yusuke and Kuwabara got to work tying the writhing girl's arms and legs up so that she would stop attacking herself. They then got to work holding her down so that she wouldn't dislocate or break anything in trying to escape her bonds.

"Call Genkai," ordered the koorime.

"Hiei," protested the kitsune, "if we have any contact with anyone in the ningenkai, the Spirit Squad will be able to detect and track-"

"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT THE SPIRIT SQUAD DOES!!" yelled the enraged and desperate demon, baring his fangs at his long-time best friend.

Kurama breathed in deeply, then exhaled before closing his eyes and saying "You're right. Genkai will know the best solution, being a psychic herself." He took out his communicator, glanced at Natalie, who was sobbing and frantically talking to Sarah, trying to bring her back, and called the Master.

"What is it?" came that familiarly harsh voice. Kurama simply turned the screen to the scene they were all looking at. The pink-haired old lady took it all in, then asked "Is this the first episode she's had since she got here?" The redhead nodded to the screen. "And is this the first time she's had any psychic incidences there?" Another nod. "Chances are that being in the Demon World has enhanced her abilities. It also probably doesn't help that the Makai is a much more violent place than the Ningenkai. It will take a while for her to return to normal, as she seems to be having a bombardment of precognitions. Make sure that she does not move as much as humanly possible. And don't worry, I created a spiritual block before I answered the call. If anyone asks, I was just meditating and didn't want any disturbances."

"Thank you Master Genkai," responded the fox demon, hanging up and looking over at Hiei, who had listened to the whole thing. He growled in frustration and left the room, only returning when he had regained his bearings. When he came in, he saw that Kurama was already applying ointment to the blisters and cuts surrounding the still-screaming woman's ties. He had summoned more plant-like restraints so that she could not move an inch. The other two (Kuwabara and Natalie, as Yusuke had gone back outside to take care of Puu) were just standing aside, waiting for direction from either Kurama or Hiei. The dragon was the one to give them orders.

"Leave."

Natalie was outraged. "I am NOT just going to leave Sarah here when she's practically DYING!!" Desperate tears were streaming down the poor girl's face as she pleaded to stay.

"Love," Kurama soothed, "I think that it's best if you try to get some rest. There's nothing more that can be done. We just have to wait for it to stop as the Master said."

As emerald eyes were reinforced with amber, the already frightened girl was shocked into silence and obedience. She nodded, eyes wide with desperation and hurt, and left the room, looking once more at her tortured friend now screaming completely silently, as she had worn out her voice. Kurama wiped up the fresh blood around her mouth, gave Hiei a meaningful look, and then went off to comfort his mate.

The koorime stood next to the bed, watching his love suffer unknown tortures. What hurt the most was that he knew that he couldn't do anything to stop it, and he HATED feeling so helpless. This continued for the rest of the day and deep into the night, by which point Sarah was so exhausted that the only distortion on her face was the slight but constant wincing and the sweat pouring down her face. Other than that, her mouth was almost closed and her face looked almost relaxed.

Hiei, too, was emotionally exhausted, and found himself drooping as he leaned against the wall, arms and legs crossed. He'd been in that room all day, watching and waiting. Just as he thought that he was about to fall asleep, he heard something that he thought he'd never hear again…

Silent, calm, normal breathing.

He immediately woke up and rushed over to look at his mate. Her face was completely relaxed, her breathing was okay (other than the slight rasping from tearing up her throat and lungs), and she looked as if she was peacefully sleeping. He stayed for a few moments to make sure, and when she didn't change, he flitted out of the room and into the cooking area, where everyone else was situated, kept awake with worry.

"She's sleeping," he said, never more relieved in his life. The gaze of the group shifted slightly.

"No she's not," whispered a raspy voice.

He whirled around just in time to catch a collapsing Sarah. She looked horrible, but she stayed awake long enough to gasp "I'm sorry for worrying you," (she turned to Natalie, who was snuggled up against her fox) "I could really use some of those healing powers now, Nat." Then she fainted into Hiei's arms. Everyone just stared for a few moments, until Kurama jumped up (bringing Natalie with him) and raced off to Sarah's room. The rest started to follow, Hiei carrying Sarah, still unconscious. When they got there, they found Kurama staring in disbelief at the bed she had just been on. All eyes turned from the bed to the girl sleeping in the fire demon's arms.

The indestructible bindings he had enhanced with his own spirit energy had been burned to ash.