TheHeartsPath: Hello again everyone! I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in so long. My dad came back from deployment and is working on retiring. While I've been working on getting the necessary things done that will allow me to join the air force. Not to mention that I've had a severe case of writer's block. Meaning lately my life has been hell in a hand-basket. -_-' So after this chapter I have no clue when next I'll be able to update. Again I am sorry. Please read and review! Hope you like the chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its' characters. They are owned by Yoshihiro Togashi. I own only Ayla, her family, and any other characters that do not show up in the series.

"Talking" Thoughts ~Telepathy or mind-reading~ Dream

Chapter 18: First Time in my Life

Trees and plants rush by, both detailed and blurry. Rain gently coming down, touching all. Giving life to all. Ground soft and moist from rain.

Deep breath through nose. Air is cold, moist, and clean from the rain. Many scents of the forest fill the air too. Smell of dirt, plants, trees, and animals.

Running. Running just to run. Howls in joy of the run. Joy of smelling. Joy of living in this moment.

Leaps in air. Form changes. Body becomes smaller. Bones shrink, become hollow. Fur turns to feathers, front paws to wings, back paws to talons, muzzle to beak. Eyes grow sharper while scent grows weaker.

Flies up, through tree branches. Breaks through canopy, clouds cover sky. Flying higher, higher, and higher still. Land is far below. Greens, browns, blues, grays, so many colors down below.

Wind rushes under wings. Hot, cold. Rising, diving, circling. Screams in joy of the flight. Joy of seeing. Joy of living in this moment.

Large water below. Circling lower, closer. Form changes. Body becomes larger, longer. Bones grow and soften. Feathers turn to skin, wings to flippers, talons to tail. Sharp, hard beak to long, soft beak with teeth. Hearing becomes stronger.

Dives into water. Cool yet warm. Warm yet cool. Diving deeper, rising up. Around coral, through seaweed. Up, down. Twirling, spinning, looping. Colors everywhere under the blue.

Sounds all around. Singing, clicks, squeals. Lonely songs, pod songs. Many, many songs in this blue world.

Sings in joy of the swim. Joy of sounds. Joy of songs, of singing. Joy of living in this moment.

Ayla's POV

"That dream again." I sigh, as I stare at the ceiling of my bedroom. Ever since I started my training I've been having this dream.

How many times does this make now? It's always the same dream and yet it's not. Every time there are different animals and different places.

Someone knocks on my door before opening it. Glancing over I saw it was my mother. I resumed my staring at the ceiling.

"Oh good you're awake." she said, coming and sitting on my bed. After she got a good look at my face she frowned. "What's bothering you Ayla? You look as if you're trying to burn a hole in the ceiling with that glare."

Blinking, I looked at her in surprise. I hadn't realized that my staring was in actuality glaring. "I had that dream again." I answered.

"The one where you're different animals?" she asked.

Nodding I once again turned to gaze to the ceiling.

"I know you want to figure out what it means, but don't let it consume your thoughts. Otherwise you're going to drive yourself crazy."

I sighed, "I know Mom."

"Breakfast will be done soon. After you dress and eat you can head over to your grandmother's." She leaned over and kissed my forehead. "Remember that if you need to talk you can always come to me sweetheart. Love you."

I smiled, "Love you too Mom."

She got up, closing the door behind her. Leaving me to get dressed and to my thoughts.

It's been almost a month since the day I found out everything at Grandma Genkai's.

Hiei's POV

"Hiei are you even listening to me?" Kurama asked.

I hadn't realized that the fox was talking to me. Using the Jagan I was watching Ayla in her room and listening to her conversation with her mother. Apparently Kurama had been trying to initiate conversation while I was sitting on the tree branch outside his window.

Ayla was getting out of bed to dress, so I closed the Jagan and opened my eyes to look at Kurama. He was standing at his window, arms crossed and frowning at me.

"Hiei, I've been trying to talk to you for the past ten minutes. Care to explain why you weren't listening?"

I didn't want to tell him why I hadn't been listening to him. But I knew if I didn't that he'd badger me until I did. "I was checking on the onna."

Kurama smiled, "I thought as much."

Growling, I looked away from him and back at Ayla's house.

"As I was saying, Koenma is working on determining when Ayla's energy will settle down enough for us to intensify her training. He's really hoping that her powers will fully awaken soon so she'll be able to train and get stronger." Kurama said.

"Why is the infant so worried about when her powers fully awaken?" I asked.

"Probably because of his father. I think Koenma wants her to be able to defend herself against the SDF. Just in case King Yama finds out about her and sends them after her."

The thought of the SDF going after Ayla caused my blood to run cold. At this point in time the onna wouldn't last a minute against even the weakest member of the Spirit Defense Force. If any of those SDF fools try to harm her I'll kill them.

"Sadly, I doubt that her energy is going to settle down anytime soon." Kurama sighed.

Wondering why he thought that I looked at him. Seeing the question on my face he continued, "I've been talking to her abuot how her training is progressing. I've also questioned her about what she remembered of how her energy acted when her telepathic and empathic abilities fully emerged. She recalled that both times it had taken her energy around a couple of months to get back to normal."

Kurama smiled, "She also mentioned that if it took longer than that she'd most likely go crazy. Apparently she isn't too happy about the constant headaches from her enhanced senses of sight and smell."

Raising an eyebrow I replied, "You said something about the same thing happening to you when your senses enhanced after having been human for a time."

"Yes I did. The headaches were rather annoying after awhile." After glancing at something in his room Kurama said, "Ayla should be heading for the temple any moment now. Yusuke will be training her today. Hopefully she won't lose her temper with him like she did last week."

Standing up on the branch I told him, "Hn, she'll be fine. It's taking longer for her to snap and lose it each time it happens." I then left to catch up with the onna who had left her home while Kurama and I were talking.

Ayla's POV

I was running at a pace that was fast, but not so fast that it would draw undue attention to me. My destination was the bus stop that was on the edge of the city closest to the temple. Which happened to be on the complete opposite side of town from my house. But hey, taking the bus from there to my grandmother's was a hell of alot cheaper than taking one closer to home. And besides, it allowed me to warm up some before training. Not to mention I was in the mood for a nice, long run.

It had been half an hour already and I was halfway there. Hiei was following me like usual, going from rooftop to rooftop. One of the guys had to either be with me or nearby at all times for my safety. Sometimes I found it really annoying, but most of the time is was strangely...comforting.

Before I'd met the guys I was always extremely tense from constantly being on guard against threats when I was alone in public and rarely felt safe. Now I was still constantly on guard for threats, but I wasn't anywhere near as tense. I also felt safe being alone in public. Which for me was kind of a foreign feeling considering the shit I dealt with growing up.

Suddenly an energy signature up ahead flared. I didn't know who the energy belonged to so I stopped running. The only thing I did know was the fact that the energy was from a demon.

~Hiei do you recognize that energy?~

~No. They're C class, hardly worth noticing.~

I leaned against the building that Hiei was on top of and crossed my arms. ~C class? Is that some kind of designation based on the level of a demon's energy?~

~Yes, now why are you still not moving?~

~Something doesn't feel right...~

~What are you talking about?~

~Heart's Song...There's something about that one that goes with that energy that just feels...wrong.~

~You're just imagining things.~

~WHAT? Like hell I am! Listen here Hiei, I've been dealing with this for my whole life! I know what I'm talking about! You're just going to have to take my word for it and...~

The emotions of that Heart's Song got strong enough that I felt like I couldn't move. Indistinct thoughts of greed, hate, hunger for power, and blood lust flooded my mind, making it hard to think.

~Onna? What's wrong?~

I tried to push what I was 'hearing' away so I could answer Hiei. But more Heart's Songs and thoughts suddenly invaded my mind. I grabbed my head, shut my eyes tight, and fell to my knees. It was overwhelming. So overwhelming that I didn't notice how all of them were connected to demon signatures. Or that each and every one of those signatures were now quickly converging on my location.

Someone grabbed my shoulders and I tried to shove them away. "Onna it's me!"

Barely opening my eyes I saw that it was Hiei. "Hiei..I can't...my mind...too much..hurts." I said in a strained voice.

The thoughts were getting louder, sharper, clearer. None of them were pleasant. Unable to keep my eyes open I shut them again and buried my face in Hiei's shoulder. I couldn't make out anything Hiei said after that. I felt him pick me up bridal style and start to run.

For a few minutes all I could sense outside my mind was Hiei holding me as he ran. Sounds of the city rushed by before fading away behind us. We quickly passed through the area between the city and the nearest part of the forest. No sooner had we entered the forest and they attacked. I felt Hiei put me down and heard him drawing his sword from its sheath. Yells and the sound of metal clashing penetrated the pain in my mind.

It was obvious from the sounds that Hiei was fighting whoever was attacking us. Part of me realized that I needed to reassemble my mental shields so I would be able to fight if someone got past Hiei. The thoughts were so loud and harsh that several minutes passed before I was able to open my eyes.

Unfortunately nothing could prepare me for the sight before me.

Bodies, blood, and weapons were scattered everywhere. The sight and smells of so much blood and death started to overwhelm my senses. I had seen both before in the past but never so much of it at once. A part of my mind was screaming at me to run away from what was in front of me. Which sounded like a really good idea, but my body was frozen from shock. What was worse was that another part of my mind found the sight and smells exciting.

That even a part of me found this exciting scared the hell out of me.

Somehow that fear was what released me from my shock and allowed me to move. I looked around the clearing and quickly spotted Hiei fighting what I figured were other demons. Not a one of them looked remotely human unlike Hiei and Kurama. They all had different colored skins from one solid color to several. All of them had wicked looking claws. Some had horns or spikes and one or two had wings. Hell some of them were combinations of humanoid and animal!

Hiei was moving so fast as he fought that I was having trouble following his movements at times. Half the time I could see him just fine. The other half he was nothing more than a darting black blur. I rarely caught a glimpse of his sword, mostly it was a glimmer from light reflecting off it. Watching him fight was nothing short of amazing. I was so distracted watching Hiei fight that I didn't sense the demon that was behind me until the last second.

I jumped up and did what I had done to Kazuma on my first day of training. Spinning and kicking at the demon behind me, aiming for a head shot. Unfortunately the demon was taller than I expected and he caught my leg before my kick landed.

The guy was ugly as sin. He looked to be taller than Yoko, with skin a disgusting yellow-green and purple eyes. His face looked like it had been smashed with a giant hammer. Ram-like horns on the sides of his head, with eyes that made me think of a serpent. And to top it all off, a mouth full of several rows of teeth like a shark.

Just looking at the guy made me want to retch.

He grinned and swung me around by my leg, smacking me into a tree. When the right side of my body connected with the tree the sound of bone breaking filled my ears. A second later I screamed as a searing pain filled my arm.

"ONNA!" I heard Hiei yell. Glancing at Hiei, I saw that he was surrounded and trying to fight his way to me.

Laughing, the demon let go of my leg and grabbed my throat with both hands. Lifting me in the air as he began to strangle me. With only one arm working I couldn't loosen his grip on my throat. Crap, I can't breathe. There has to be something I can do to get him to let go!

An idea popped in my head about how to get away. I really hope this demon's anatomy is just like a male human. Otherwise I'm dead. Bracing one leg against his body, I lifted the other back as far as I could before swinging it forward as hard as possible. Hitting the guy right between the legs and hopefully his genitals.

The demon yelled, dropped me, and grabbed himself as he fell. With how quickly he let go of me after I kicked him, I wasn't able to get my legs under me before I hit the ground. So I ended up landing on my broken arm, causing me to scream in pain. Unable to truly scream from having been choked moments before all I did was cough. I got up and backed away from the demon who was now glaring at me as he stood up.

"You'll pay for that you little bitch!" he yelled, launching himself at me.

The amount of spirit energy I used in my legs now was more than what I'd used when I tried to kick him. Although this time instead of attacking I was evading. There was no way I could possibly take this guy on with a broken arm. Again and again I dodged his attacks, hoping that Hiei would be able to get rid of him soon.

Just as I was dodging one of the demon's punches he used his other hand to hit me with an energy blast. It hurt like hell when it hit me and I cried out in pain. The blast sent me flying backwards several yards and smack into a barberry bush. Resulting in me getting scratched and stabbed all to hell from the thorns. I tried to get free of the bush, but the thorns held onto my clothes, skin, and hair keeping me from going anywhere.

As I continued struggling to get loose a shadow fell on me. Looking up my eyes went wide at the dagger that was now in the demon's hand.

"Time for you to die you little bitch." he said, a sickening grin plastered on his face. He raised the dagger above his head before swiftly bringing it down towards my stomach.

I'M GOING TO DIE!

Suddenly everything seemed as if it was going in slow motion. I could clearly hear my breathing and heart beating above the rest of the noises in the clearing. Inside my body I felt an energy that was foreign and yet familiar straining to get free. Grasping that energy I willed it into the bush I was trapped in, picturing it growing, wrapping around, and holding the demon with its thorns.

This energy rushed through me in a way that my spirit energy had never done before. My whole body flooded with excitement as this strange energy coursed through and out of my body. Within the blink of an eye vines covered in thorns shot past me, grabbing and holding the demon in place. The dagger was also wrapped in vines, stopping it just mere inches above my stomach. Relief washed through me when I realized that, just like Kurama, I had manipulated a plant with my energy.

However, my relief vanished quicker than Hiei at his fastest when I felt something wet drip onto me. Blinking, I tried to make sense of exactly what my eyes were seeing. Several seconds passed as my brain worked on processing what I was seeing above me. The moment it clicked I started breathing too fast and fighting to not be sick.

The demon was dead.

His blood sluggishly flowing from wherever the thorns punctured. Thorns from the vines stabbed into many parts of his body. Some of them were the same length as the dagger's blade, while others were even longer. One of the vines had wrapped around his neck. A thorn as long as Hiei's sword had shoved itself under his chin and up through his head, coming out of the top of his skull. Blood was dripping from his mouth, nose, and eyes and falling on me.

My mind barely registered the lack of sounds now coming from the clearing. Nor the fact that Hiei was cutting the vines and carefully getting me out of the bush. Hiei picked me up bridal style for the second time today. Only this time the way he held me was different. It was gentler, almost as if he was afraid that I was going to fall apart at any moment.

He took off running through the forest, getting me away from the death filled clearing. Getting me away from the body of the demon I had just killed. But it didn't really help. I still kept seeing the body of the demon hanging above me in my mind. The demon whom I had killed in order to live.

I killed him, I killed him, I killed him, I killed him, I killed him...

For the first time in my life, someone had died by my hand.

For the first time in my life, I was truly terrified of what I was becoming.