Ride like the Wind
Chapter 10

"Okay, we're here now. Where's the fight?" Yusuke looked around. "You can't just walk through here without one…"

"Maybe it was just to scare us off?" Kuwabara suggested.

"Hardly think that's the case. Dirty bastards like this one don't lie if they feel confident they can stop us. I know the type," Hiei answered.

"Why? 'Cause you're one of them?"

"Don't start," Shuichi sighed irritated. "Hey… You hear that?"

As the earth began to shake violently, Yusuke cried, "You mean, 'You feel that'! What the hell is going on!"

A strange creature stopped right in front of the four, its eyes shifting from one person to the other. It was a gray hippogriff. It was about the size of a moose. It had golden eyes that burned with fury. It had wide gray wings that were about six feet long. It had large hooves that looked like it could smash a human without a problem… Suddenly it took off in the air, screeching.

"What was that about?" Yusuke said under his breath, cocking an eyebrow.

"Look out! It's coming back!" Kuwabara cried, getting his Spirit Sword ready for a fight.

"Told you there was gonna be a fight…"

A griffon swooped down to attack Hiei, but those golden claws barely missed slashing his eyes out.

"Do we feel special? We're the first people in Mexico to see European demon," Hiei commented sarcastically as he shot the griffon's left wing.

"Let's just hope no one else sees these ugly things!" Yusuke fired his Spirit Gun and barely missed blowing the hippogriff's head off.

A scorpion with a cat's head crawled to Kuwabara. just after he finished the hippogriff off.

"This is crazy!" Yusuke exclaimed as he dodged the scorpion's stinger.

"If only we did Tarukane by surprise, then we'd have some fun!" Hiei half-joked.

"This is fun? What the heck is wrong with you?" Kuwabara growled as he sliced off one of the griffon's legs.

A deafening screech shot into Shuichi's ears.

What is that? Shuichi thought as he turned around to see an odd creature. It was a mix of a rooster and a snake. Its tongue slithered out of its beak. Its tail was made up of many colorful snake tails that squirmed around. And those deep green eyes! They were… They were… And Shuichi felt himself hit the ground.

"What the…? Shuichi!" Hiei gasped.

---

"It's alright, son. You'll be fine…" the man with the light brown hair whispered to the crying five year old child in his arms. He stopped in front of the orphanage and stared at it, a deep feeling of sorrow rising from the pit of his stomach.

"It's nice to see you again, but I can't say the same about your timing," Koenma greeted with a yawn. "I'm not sure midnight's the best time to bring him in."

"The exorcists would say the same thing. You know how they are."

"Yeah. I'm finding it hard to catch a sympathetic exorcist. You don't need to worry though. I made arrangements with them before you came. If they don't touch Ruka, they won't touch your kid. So tell me, what would JJ Thompson be doing with a boy like this here? I understand that you might not have anywhere for him to go, but why Mexico?"

"It's not like that. I'm fine with watching him since his man whore father won't. But 'the guys' don't like it. This whole thing…." He sighed.

"I see. What happened?"

"We were in New York and well, he… Accidentally shot someone… He's lucky to at least be alive. If I let the leader get a hold of him…" He shook his head.

Koenma nodded. They walked into the orphanage.

Ruka waited for them in the entryway, a candle in her hand. She had red hair that fell a little more that halfway down her back. Her eyes were blue and had a motherly gleam to them. She was well-known for her brutal punishments of whippings with her switch that she hid in one of the closets. At the time, she was wearing a coat (It was a chilly October night.) over white dress.

"Whew! It's freezing out there!" Koenma shivered as he closed the door.

"I told you it would be," Ruka replied almost like she was scolding him. (The child would soon find out that was the way her voice always sounded.) She turned to John. "I've already have everything ready for him. The priests only want to know…" Her eyes fell to an onyx teargem the fell to the floor. "…What kind of demon he is. If you want to know why, it's for an emergency if he ever gets too out of hand."

Feeling reassured by the last sentence he answered slowly, "His father was a fire demon and his mother was an ice maiden." He put the child, who kept his eyes glued to the floor, down.

Ruka eyed him. The boy was thin. Very thin. He had raven hair stuck straight up in spikes with an outburst of white just where his forehead was. He had large ruby eyes (It was hard to tell, though. His hair was covering his eyes.) that looked like they had seen too much.

"Don't worry, John. He'll be fine," Koenma added a smile to make sure the light haired man would hear the doubt in his voice. Or at least until the townspeople find out…

John's ocean blue eyes fell back onto the boy and he whispered to him, "I guess this is goodbye, son." He kissed him on the top of his head the way a father did when he leaves his child to go to work. He walked out in what felt like slow motion.

The child looked up to see the door close. "He's not comin' back…" Tears welled up in his eyes.

Ruka patted Hiei on the head, a gesture he might have enjoyed if he were older. "Don't worry. You'll see him again. Now we just need your name."

"They call me…"

---

Shuichi shot up screaming, "HIEI!"

Hiei, who was sitting nearby, screamed back, "WHAT?"

"Well, I'll be…. It's a miracle…" Kuwabara mumbled in disbelief.

"Yelling a conversation?" Yusuke joked even though he knew what Kuwabara meant.

Kuwabara ignored him. "How can a human be revived with demonic energy?" He turned to Hiei. "Are you a witch?"

"No, the guys upstairs hate me and took me back," Shuichi laughed. Man, that dream was scary…. "What happened? Did you save Yukina yet?"

"Not without you," Yusuke replied. "I've known you about three weeks and I already know that it ain't a party without you. Besides that, I think Hiei wouldn't wanna go without you."

"Urameshi, I swear…" Hiei growled. "Let's get going then. The sooner Tarukane's dead, the better."

"We finally agree," Kuwabara added.

---

So an hour passed and the four found themselves in front of the door. Kuwabara, who was eager to save Yukina and "be reunited with his true love", was body-slamming against the door.

"Kuwabara," Shuichi got his attention. He pointed to the door knob. "I think it would help if you turned it."

"…I knew that!" Kuwabara grumbled, turning a light shade of pink in embarrassment.

Inside was a hall long hallway that was full of doors. Whether it was to throw burglars off or just for show, nobody would be sure. At the end of it was a stairway to the hall leading to Tarukane's bedroom on one end, and the other…

"I feel her… She's just up those stairs…" Kuwabara smiled. "PAITENCE LADY OF THE SNOW! I AM COMING TO SAVE YOU! And at last, we shall be reunited…"

"So tell me, Kuwabara, since when were you even united?" Hiei asked smugly.

"Can it, Shorty!"

"I'm sorry to say, that shan't be happening soon," Sakashita shouted to them from the hall at the end of the stairs, a sword in hand. "I challenge you to a gentleman's challenge."

"Okay… Stating the obvious…" Yusuke grumbled.

"Lemme take this one," Hiei said to him, more of a command than a statement. "You go on. I'll finish this one fast. Haven't tried out a swordfight in a few years. I think I'm rusty."

"Ah, what a gentleman. Letting yourself fall before your friends…" He laughed as the other three went passed him.

Hiei swung his sword around in the air a few times as if to get used to it. "Ready, lap dog?"

"What did you…?"

"It doesn't matter. Enough said!" Hiei lunged for his enemy who dodged the swing that would have sliced his head off. Hiei backed off so Sakashita's swung would just give him a minor scratch the taller man increased his speed to try to draw out more blood. He only accomplished swinging too high.

"I know I'm a small target, but you can at least try to hit me!" Hiei mocked him as he dodged another swing. "I thought you wanted to cut me down, not my hair."

"Enough chit-chat!" Sakashita stabbed him through the shoulder.

"Still too high…" Hiei lit him on fire and ran after the three. "I'll let you suffer…"

---

They walked into a dark room where the only lighting was a bunch of candles that were scattered around the room. It was intended to be used as an attic, but Tarukane used it to hide his demon collection which was now gone. (Most of the demons just ran away without fighting the four.) The room next door was where he his Yukina, but wait…

"What the hell…?" Yusuke blinked twice as he looked around the room. "Hey… That bastard's got a window on the other side of the room. He's watching… Get down here and fight like a man!"

Tarukane titled his head mockingly. 'Me fight and get blood on me? Never! How would you like to fight my body guards? They call themselves the Brokers of Darkness…"

"No… He doesn't mean…" Shuichi mumbled.

And the door opened slowly with a creak… A large muscular man walked in first. His raven hair was partially shaved. His eyes weren't seen because he wore a hat that covered them up. He looked to be in his late twenties…

Then a smaller man sauntered in. He was skinny and pale. His gray hair was wavy and fell halfway down his back. His black eyes were large and appeared to be bulging out.

"The Toguro Brothers!"

Oh no… Yukina thought.

End chapter 10

Sorry the chapter seems so short. I guess I was in a hurry….

I decided to stay with the original story this time…. By the way, I'm pretty sure sunglasses weren't around at the time so I couldn't give the younger Toguro sunglasses. Man it's gonna be a pain writing the fight scene since the two have no first names….

Review please!