Kuronue was hacking a trail through the wooded area they were now walking through with his scythes. Once they made it through the underbrush they would be at the base of the mountain of mystical creatures. Alice's ears began to twitch as she picked up the sound of footsteps not too far away, Cheza and Kuronue hadn't seemed to notice yet. Alice began to growl to warn the two someone..or something was approaching. Needless to say, it caught their attention. Kuronue readied his scythes for battle, Cheza looked down to see Kuronue's spirit beast holding mini-scythes in hand as well. The footsteps were getting closer by the second, what appeared caught them off guard. "A..unicorn!" Cheza exclaimed. " we are pretty close to the mountain now.. it is called the mountain of mythical creatures afterall…". Cheza was fixing to walk over and pet the horse like creature, but it took off running like a bat out of hell…something had startled it, and that something was a very angry fox demon. Yoko appeared his arms crossed glaring at the two. "uh oh.." Cheza commented. "Uh oh is right kitten…" Yoko remarked. Yoko averted his gaze from Cheza to Kuronue, "Explain". Kuronue gave him as innocent of a look as possible, "explain what?". A loud screech flooded their ears, Cheza looked up just in time to see a large pair of talons coming right at her. Before anyone could react she was airborne, captured in the talons of what they had come to find…a griffin. Kuronue snapped his wings out as Yoko created his own wings from a variety of plant leaves and the two took off after the creature, Alice not far behind.
/\/\/\/\/\
The griffin had taken her to the top of the mountain and dropped her into a nest, filled with baby griffins. They were all nipping at her, eager to indulge in a human feast. The little creatures weren't able to tear into her flesh so they waited patiently for their mother to do the honors. The mother griffin made her way over to Cheza, she made a painful screeching noise every time her left paw touched the ground. She was fixing to strike when Cheza yelled, "WAIT!" The griffin stopped and stared at her with fierce eyes. "You…you have a thorn stuck in your foot…I can help you get it out". The griffin glanced down at her paw then back up at Cheza. She realized the griffin understood what she was saying as she turned her back on Cheza and lifted her back paw up, revealing a thorn. Hesitantly she reached her hand out and attempted to pull it out, it was stuck in there pretty deep. After a few pulls she managed to get it out. "Thank you". Cheza was taken aback as the creature spoke. "You..you can talk!" Cheza exclaimed. The griffin turned back around to face her, "I am eternally grateful..is there any way I can repay your kindness?". This was too perfect! She didn't even have to find a griffin..a griffin found her! and a griffin that would willingly take her to the island!
/\/\/\/\/\
"Cheza!", "Kitten!", "woof!" Cheza turned to see Kuronue,Yoko and Alice touch down about a foot away from her and the griffin. "Good news Kuronue! I found a griffin willing to take us to the island!" Cheza exclaimed. "If you think for a second I will allow you to…" Yoko was cutoff as Cheza said, "Im going whether you like it or not! Im not going to sit around and wait for my father to…"
In a silver blur Yoko was standing in front of her, "Kitten Im losing my patience.."
Kuronue flew over to the griffin and sat down on top of her back to watch the couple argue back and forth. "So am I! you cant tell me what to do! If I want to do something then I AM going to do it!". Yoko disappeared from Cheza's site, but she quickly realized he was now standing behind her when his arms wrapped around her waist, " this is no place for a little girl like you..I'm only trying to protect you kitten" he whispered into her ear. "I know you are..but this is something I have to do!" Cheza replied. "Come on Kurama I need some excitement in my life! besides…I'd think you'd want revenge on Aku after what that bastard did to you! I think its time for some long overdue payback!" Kuronue exclaimed. This caught the foxes attention, "what are you talking about?". Cheza gulped nervously..she wasn't sure what Yoko would do once he found out. Kuronue exchanged glances with Cheza, " I thought you knew…". Yoko' s eyes narrowed, "tell me now". An uneasy silence filled the air. Kuronue had found out through the Vegeta look alike that Aku had been the bounty hunter that nearly killed his partner in crime, but he had noticed Cheza didn't seemed shocked by the information..he figured her mother had already told her..so he figured she had told Yoko. " Aku is the whole reason youre now known as Shuichi". Yoko showed no emotion whatsoever, he understand what Kuronue meant by this…so why did he look so calm? "Youre sure taking this well…." Kuronue said a bit uneasily. Yoko picked Cheza up and jumped onto the griffin, "I take it you want to pay Aku a visit now?" Kuronue asked. " I've thought of countless ways to kill that bastard throughout the years…"Yoko muttered, he appeared to be pondering the most gruesome scenario he had come up with. An image of the foxes death tree came to Kuronue's mind. He knew he was planning on using it…he remembered the first unlucky soul to cross paths with that carnivorous tree. Right before his very eyes he watched a bounty hunter scream in agony as the tree's numerous mouths had ripped into him..melting his flesh and then his bones…it was as if acid had been poured onto him. He had made a mental note right then and there to never piss off the fox.
"Hold on tight" the griffin warned as her wings began to flap. Yoko put his arms around Cheza's waist, "don't worry kitten I wont let you fall".
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The griffin soared through the skies, demon birds were quick to get out of its way. They were now approaching the mysterious floating island. It was covered in a thick fog, but they could still see an outline of a large castle off in the distance, they all figured that was the best place to start searching for Aku . The griffin landed and the fox, bat, dog, and human jumped off. "Goodluck" the griffin commented as she took to the skies once more. The four now stood in front of a rather creepy looking forest. They couldn't see much..since the fog was so thick…Cheza wasn't sure how they were going to navigate their way through it.
"The castle is beyond this forest…we have no choice but to pass through it" the fox stated. Yoko took hold of Cheza's left hand as Kuronue took hold of her right, "whatever you do don't let go of our hands..we wont be able to find you..this fog is to thick" Cheza glanced down at Alice, "what about Alice! I don't want her to get lost…" Yoko pulled a seed from his hair and created a vine, "this will suffice as a leash".
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
They had been walking for a couple hours now. Yoko knew something had been following them the whole time, although he could not see anything..he could sense a pair of eyes staring at him. A "hoot" type sound emitted from somewhere above them. They stopped and looked up, although it was pointless..they couldn't see a thing. "I have a proposition for yoooooou" came a male voice.
Yoko's eyes narrowed, "show yourself!". "very well then" the voice replied. The surrounding fog vanished into thin air, and the trio found themselves staring into a large pair of golden eyes "the great horned owl!" Yoko and Kuronue exclaimed in unison. Cheza blinked, "did I miss something?" Cheza knew this defiantly was no ordinary owl. Its eyes were as big as saucers and it stood at least 5 ft tall. "The great horned owl has been around since the dawn of time! He is the smartest being to exist in any of the three worlds…" Yoko informed. "Thank you for the compliment Kurama" the owl replied. "How do you know his name!" Cheza exclaimed. "Well..you see I know everything about everything.." The owl replied. Kuronue blinked, "soo…whats my middle name then?" Yoko rolled his eyes, "shut up Kuro..you said you had a proposition for us?" The owl ruffled its feathers then walked over to Cheza, " this girl…she doesn't have much time left..she will die in less than an hour from now" Yoko's golden orbs widened , "what…?" he asked shakily. A sad look could be seen in the owls eyes, "she will die…Aku, the one you have come to fight, will kill her.." Yoko clinched his fists, "over my dead body!". "He knows youre coming…one of his minions is a psychic demon..he foresaw your arrival..he knows what youre going to do before you even do it! BUT I can change your fate…I can save you Cheza". "How!" Yoko demanded. " I will kill him for you…but there is something I will want in return…"
"and what is it you want?" Kuronue asked. " Every living creature is destined to the same fate…death. I have been alive longer than any being ever has..but my time here is now coming to an end… The owl extended its wings and flew off into a tree nearby, "hey! Where are you going!" Kuronue exclaimed. The owl did not respond, but it returned only seconds later with a large egg in its mouth. Gently, the owl placed it on the ground in front of Cheza. " I have transferred all my knowledge and strength into this egg…the egg of my unborn child. He will never survive on his own..at least not for the first few years of his life. When my time has come to an end, the egg will hatch..and my child will at last be born. Cheza, I want you to raise my child..protect him with your life, since I will not be able to." "I….. would be honored too" Cheza replied. "Then I must go and destroy this Aku before my time has expired.."
"You said you transferred all of your strength into that egg..how will you defeat Aku?" Yoko asked.
" Indeed my strength is gone..but my endless knowledge isn't. I will defeat Aku, you needn't worry fox". The owl turned his attention back to Cheza, " Before I depart I shall open a portal to send you back to youre own world.." A swirly blue portal appeared seemingly out of nowhere, " Farewell my new friends". Alice entered the portal, followed by Kuronue and Yoko. Cheza picked up the egg and walked to the portal, stopping in front of it. She turned to face the owl, "I promise I will never let any harm come to your child.." The owl nodded, "thank you Cheza". She smiled then entered the portal, finding herself in her apartment along with Alice, Kuronue, and Yoko.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ Later that night/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\
Kurama held Cheza in his arms ,holding her in a tight embrace. "I couldn't fathom losing you Cheza…just the thought...I..I don't know what I would do…" he whispered into her ear. Cheza noticed the egg moving out of the corner of her eye, "Kurama look!" The two ran over to the egg, which was now beginning to crack. Soon, out popped an itty bitty owl. Its eyes were closed and it had not one feather yet. "he's passed on…" Cheza said sadly. "Yes..but a new life has been created" Kurama replied. Cheza stared down at the baby owl, "what should we name him?" "hmm…I have no idea..I've never had to name an owl before…" Cheza shrugged, " well..we still have plenty of time to come up with a name..soo….what exactly do baby owls eat?" Kurama blinked, "hmm…I do know they don't drink water…" "They don't drink water! Then what do they drink?" "Blood" Kurama replied. "Oh…" Cheza replied staring down at the little owl. "Hes going to a handful..but I'll be here to help you in any way that I can" Kurama said. Cheza smiled, " thank you".