Welcome to the dark side! The brand spankin' new M RATED side of 'Lone Wolf'! Mwahaha. Anyway, Rated M for M Rated stuff and things.

After this chapter I'm going to start including the summaries for the Poll Stories in my Author's Notes, some just need a finish and others just need a fine tuning. Some of the stories will have multiple options on the poll for you to choose from as well.

Chapter 23: Liquid and Scars

Kirazuki inhaled sharply, gagging as she felt the ice cold liquid pouring over her covered face; her mismatched eyes widened from beneath the piece of cloth as she felt the water freezing to her already shaking body. She tried desperately to pull her head forward, free her airways from the water, but a dangerous grip around her hair at her scalp kept it firmly in place. Her body began to twitch rhythmically with her short and quick gasps for oxygen, but it was filled only with more liquid; she squeezed her bloodshot eyes shut, silently pleading in her mind for this to just be over.

As if answering her prayers, she felt her head snap forward, the towel falling with a moist plop to the dirt floor below; she began to cough so uncontrollably she thought she may vomit, gagging as water was forced out of her airways, and gasping to replenish air. Had the chains not been suspending her upwards, she surely would've collapsed onto the ground. The corners of her mouth held a deep blue color to them, fading into purple, before a soft and very pale pink in the centers. She had lost count of how many times they had done this already.

"As I have said before, Kirazuki," Tobikuma purred from behind her, running her talons through her long, damp, and slightly frozen hair as she hung her head limply against her arm, her chest heaving up and down, "We take no joy in this.. Concede to us, and it all goes away,"

"Ssspeak for yourssself," Tatsumi hissed, already balanced another ball of water in her palm as she bent down in front of the chained wolf, plucking the piece of cloth off of the floor with her free hand.

Kanami sat upon the dirt floor in front of the three, working tirelessly at masking each of their individual energy sources, and blocking the faint distress signal that the wolf kept trying to sneak out.

Kira opened one of her eyes lazily, panting as she still tried to catch her breath, "You might as well just kill me," She spoke between heaves of air, "It's not going to happen.."

Tobi smiled faintly as he untangled his hand from her white, grey and black hair, placing a single talon on her lower back and tracing it around her midsection as he walked to her front, "Perhaps we'll try something new, then," He trailed his talon upwards slightly, right below the left half of her rib cage on top of her now dirty dress, "Do you remember your first time in the Sim?" He asked casually, one by one tapping the rest of his fingers into the same spot.

Kira narrowed her eyes: of course she remembered. The scar from it was directly under his hand, "Yeah, I got my ass handed to me," She chuckled faintly, shaking her head as she closed her eyes once again, she just wanted to sleep.

"Tell me about it," He spoke with a calm tone, almost comfortingly.

Kira didn't know where he was going with this, but spoke none the less, "It was a Makai based, it was the first time they'd ever used it and they messed up the settings and had me in with an S Class. He was an earth demon, got me right where your hand is with a spike of-" She was cut short as a heart wrenching scream burst from her lungs, a searing pain erupted directly below her rib cage, her eyes shooting open in shock; Tobi had taken the opportunity to dive his talons straight into her through her scar. She ground her teeth together with a grunt as she tried to contain her vocalization, screwing her eyes shut as tightly as she could.

"And then what?" Tobi cooed, squirming his fingers around slightly as the crimson began to soak it's way through the shimmering white fabric, causing the wolf to wince several times.

Kira glared fiercely into his blackened eyes: If cutting open old scars was the 'something new' he had in mind, chances were pretty high she really would end up dead, she certainly had more than enough scars to end up bleeding to death, "I tried to lift myself off of it.." She continued, whimpering slightly as the eagle pulled his hand backwards a small amount, "And then he kicked me in the ribs-" She cried out again as Tobi dragged his talons outwards from the initial wound, following the line of her scar almost perfectly.

"And then they pulled you out," Tobi smiled as he withdrew his talons. One by one he brought them to his mouth, cleaning each one off with his tongue, "Do you know why one of your eyes is brown?" He questioned randomly as he cleansed the last finger.

"Enlighten me," Kira panted as one of her eyes slid closed, resting her head back down against her arm as she tried to fend away her vertigo.

"It's actually a very deep flaw we have," He explained as he crouched down in front of her, "It's supposed to be for our benefit, since we have such naturally high pain thresholds in battle, it let's us know when there's an injured portion of our body based on what side the injury is on. But it also allows those who know this secret access to our weak points," He gently unlatched one of her ankles, picking up her dirt covered foot in his hand, "You still haven't fully healed from the venom," He stated as he traced a single talon from her ankle down to her toes.

Kira heavily resisted the urge to kick him directly in his disgusting beak of a nose, that would only work against her in the long run, "Fascinating," She muttered as she closed her other eye; maybe she could take a small nap.

"We truly are extraordinary creatures," Tobikuma spoke as his sharp talons traced the scars of the old bite wound, grasping her ankle firmly with his free hand, "We transcend the natural balance of life, give it new meaning, and yet we are… Under appreciated, under estimated.." Again he sunk them into her cold flesh and Kira gritted her teeth together as she screamed through them, her head snapping forward as she felt them pierce through to the underside of her foot like knives, slicing through tendons and ligaments as they went. She tried to kick out at him, but his other hand held her in place as he withdrew his now bloodied hand in one swift motion, "We should not be divided this way," He spoke sadly, slamming her foot back down onto the ground; Kira whimpered as she felt the gritty sand clinging to the all too fresh wound as Tobi re-shackled her ankle, "Your allegiance should be with us, the ones who understand you like those simple minds never could,"

Kira exhaled swiftly through her mouth in a pathetic attempt at a laugh, rocking her head from side to side, "You understand nothing about me,"

Kurama, Taryuu, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei were currently spread out within their hotel room; Kurama had 3 large maps lined up on the floor in front of him, a red pen perched in his hand, Hiei stood by the window, hands in his pockets and Jagan wide.

"Right here," Yusuke pointed to a spot on the second map, relaying the location Hiei had just flashed through his mind, and Kurama diligently circled it, "Here," He pointed to another spot on the second map, and the fox repeated the motion.

Hiei was scanning the area for caves that were approximately North-west of their current location, giving them mentally to Yusuke to save him having to walk back and forth to point out the areas to Kurama, who was marking them onto the maps.

"This is like some real life Detective stuff," Kuwabara said excitedly as he watched more and more circles pop up on their 3 large pieces of paper.

Hiei scowled at his seemingly chipper attitude, this wasn't the time nor place for it, "That's all of them," He stated, unmoving from where he was.

"Good," Kurama spoke as he tapped the pen on the carpet, staring hard at the maps, "There's 43 caves at varying distances North-west of here.."

Yusuke and Kuwabara both sweatdropped, "That's.. A lot of walking…" The Spirit Detective spoke wearily. Taryuu huffed loudly from where he was laying on the couch, he was still trying to keep his emotions in check.

"No, I've been to some of these before," Kurama confessed as he began crossing certain circles from the maps, while marking others with a second circle, "We're specifically looking for ones that lead underground,"

Yusuke grinned, "Alright, process of elimination. Good thinking Kurama," He chuckled with a thumbs up.

"We'll have this done and Kira back in no time!" Kuwabara proclaimed happily, pumping his fist into the air.

"That still leaves us with 27 caves, you moron," Hiei finally spoke, unmoving from in front of the window.

"Hey Shrimp!" Kuwabara pointed directly at the fire demon with a glare, "Don't get mad at us just because your girlfriends missing," He grumbled, before shoving his fist in the air again, "You don't need to worry Hiei, because I, Kazuma Kuwabara, am the Warrior.. of Love, and I'll fight for yours too, because that's what a real man does," He proclaimed confidently, his jaw tightening with determination.

Hiei scowled as his eye twitched with irritation, while Yusuke and Kurama began to snicker among themselves at his expense, "I will kill you if you continue to make ridiculously idiotic statements," He loathed the oaf, even more so than usual as he narrowed his crimson eyes out the window. How did that damn psychic manage to cover them around the clock? She had to sleep eventually, and he would wait for that moment if they hadn't already found them; his consciousness bouncing between the various caves of the Makai as he searched. He wanted nothing more than to go out on his own, he could cover so much more ground without the deadweight of the Detective and Kuwabara and their lack of speed, 'Where are you, you foolish Mutt..'

Kirazuki awoke with a sudden stir, her now completely brown eyes flying open with a groan, flexing her tingling fingers as she tried to regain some feeling. She was, for once, oddly cold; as her battered and bloodied body hung helplessly suspended and torn. Both her ankles and wrists had been reopened from her old restraint scars, the chains around them only it worse; across her shoulder blades; various areas on her legs and arms; her chest; one could hardly tell her dress was once white. Kanami sat in front of her peacefully, her crystal eyes closed as she focused on her task. Tobikuma and Tatsumi had decided to take a break at some point, and Kira had decided to sleep while she could. An idea crossed her cloudy mind in that moment, being left alone with the traitor. Maybe it was the blood loss, maybe she was just delusional, or maybe she had finally gone insane: one of those 3, Kira was sure, "Kanami," She called calmly.

Kanami's brilliant eyes opened, her normally timid look on her face as she spoke, "I'm not supposed to speak with you.."

Kira rolled her neck as minimally as she could manage from her bonds, "That's okay, I'll do the talking," She smiled, she was in no position to be making threats right now, but just maybe her crazy idea could work, "You know they're going to kill you, right?" She taunted, her tail giving a gentle bristle.

"I'm going to call them back if you don't stop," Kanami warned with a wavering voice.

"Go ahead, they're going to come back soon and do the same thing they've been doing anyway. I just want you to know; they're going to find me, and that'll bring them to you, and I have a feeling betrayal doesn't sit with them well," Kira paused in her ramble a moment, her ears giving a small twitch, she could tell she was getting under the psychics skin. Maybe, if she kept pushing her luck, she could manage to force her to drop her focus just enough to get her signal out, she just hoped someone was looking for it when it happened, "It won't be Kuwabara, because you're a woman, if anyone could actually call you that, but maybe it'll be Taryuu, I bet he'd love to drown you, dragon temper and all-"

"Kira-"

"Maybe Yusuke'll just blow you away with his Spirit Gun-"

"Kira!-"

"Maybe Kurama will get to slice you up, he can be merciless, especially towards a traitor-"

"Stop it!-"

"I bet Hiei's itching to do the same, he hates to be touched, you know-"

"Be quiet!-"

"Maybe I'll still be alive to tear your head from the rest of your body-"

"Kirazuki!" The wolf froze her speech, her mouth still open slightly as she heard Tobikuma's voice cut through the air. Shit. That plan didn't work out well. Her stomach sank as she glanced towards the arched entrance where Tobi and Tatsumi had just re-entered the cavern, "I see you have awoken," He spoke with an unusual chill to his voice as he made his way down the narrow path, his muscles shifting all too predatorily under his skin as he walked towards her, "Have you changed your mind yet?" He questioned as he stood in front of her, placing a few gentle talons on her cheek.

Kira inhaled sharply as she maintained a steady eye contact with his black, bottomless eyes, her heart beginning to pound against her chest; she would be lying if she said she didn't fear him at this point, "No," She spoke firmly.

Tobikuma sighed as he almost playfully began to trail his fingers up the side of her head, crawling them over to one of her suspended arms, "It's too bad," He cooed as he unshackled a single arm: it dropped heavily against her side. She watched as he began to ever so gently slice away the small cap sleeve of her dress until it fell weightlessly from her still motionless arm, "I don't enjoy this," He spoke airily, eyeing the old burn scar upon the ball of her shoulder from the flames of their Stress Tests, "Do you remember this one?" He asked faintly, placing a single talon on one of the jagged edges, pressing ever so gently until he punctured the skin just a fraction.

"Stress Test," Kira spoke coldly, watching as Tobi began to carefully cut along the sloppy scars edge: the pain was nothing but a simple paper cuts sting, and her mismatched eyes followed the delicate and precise movements until he had gone around the entire outer edge. She gasped when he began tucking his talons into the fresh cut line at the top of her shoulder, and screamed finally when he gave a harsh yank. She could feel everything, his razor-sharp claws scraping against her tender muscle and fatty tissue, separating it away from the flesh like she was being skinned. She hung her head against her chest with another scream as he worked to mercilessly peel the scar tissue from her body, her eyes welling with tears for the first time since she'd been imprisoned. And, for the very first time, as he shaved away the last hunk of thin skin, throwing it casually to the side, she considered finally breaking to their wishes.

She cried out as he roughly shoved her arm upwards to rechain it, her shoulder screaming with pain while her stray hair clung to the fresh wound, "Now?" He asked as he refastened her wrist, peeking around the side of her.

Kira gnawed down on her bottom lip as she tried to fend away the tears from falling, that would give him far too much satisfaction, "No," Her voice trembled as she said the word.

Tobikuma sighed as he trailed across the floor, bending down to pick up the towel they had used earlier and squeezing the remaining water from it, "Are you sure?" He asked as he tossed it up and down in the air, a clear warning of what was to come.

"Fuck you," She said bitterly as she buried her face in her uninjured arm, her entire body ached, and her knees trembled as she tried to use them to support her, fearing that letting her weight tug on her shoulder may cause more damage, or more pain.

"Tatsumi," He beckoned the serpent with his hand, making his way behind the broken wolf, "You are stubborn beyond belief, little Dark Moon," He spoke sympathetically, lacing his hand in her hair and yanking her head backwards as he flopped the towel over her face yet again.

Kira's heart rate skyrocketed with anxiety as she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the impending feeling of drowning to wash her over yet again; but she gave a final small chuckle into the cloth, "It's who I am…"

Kurama sat upon the grass, a pen cap dangling from his mouth as he crossed off their 4th cave of the day and, since it appeared to be getting dark out, likely their last. He sighed in defeat as he pressed the pen back into its top, folding up the worn out map as he stood from the ground, "I suppose we should head back for the night…" He spoke in a grim tone of voice, tucking the map away safely in his back pocket. He assumed the closest caves would not likely house Tobikuma and Tatsumi, but they had decided to work their way outwards.

Hiei stood atop the caves entrance, his hands in his pockets as he stared off into the distance; at 4 caves per day it would take them nearly a week to clear through all of them - and that was far too long. They needed to move faster, find a way to be more efficient, they needed to let him go out on his own hunt, he was faster than any of them, and he could at least scout out the remaining caves, "Why don't we keep going?" He questioned; yes, they were losing daylight, but they could certainly fair in the Makai night.

Kurama shook his head gently, "You and I may be able to see well enough in the dark, but Yusuke and Kuwabara don't have the same advantage,"

Kuwabara sat on the ground at the opening, gently massaging his right ankle, he had managed to trip over something in the cave and suspected it may be sprained, but he had willed himself to keep pushing forward: they had a job to do, and they had a friend to rescue. He may not have been as close to Kira as some of them, but he knew she would keep going if any of the roles were switched, "Me and Urameshi can manage if you guys wanna keep going," His tone of voice held the utmost seriousness to it, so much so that even the fire demon turned to look at him.

Yusuke, though surprised for a moment, nodded firmly to this statement, Kuwabara's words and determination uplifting his spirits as he refocused his gaze on the fox, "Let's keep going,"

"There you have it," Hiei smirked as he appeared at Kurama's side, very satisfied with this outcome for once, his dislike of Kuwabara wavering ever so slightly.

Taryuu came lumbering back from somewhere in the woods where he had retreated to relieve himself, clearing his throat as he entered the conversation, "Alright, I'm ready. Where next?" He questioned as he adjusted his large white t-shirt.

Kurama sighed heavily: he was definitely outnumbered, and at this point he had absolutely no room to protest a unanimous group decision, no matter how ill-adviced it was. He reluctantly removed the map from his pocket, gently unfolding it as his emerald eyes strained to find their next target in the dying daylight, "Let's get moving, then,"

"You are persistant, little wolf," Tobikuma sighed as he shook his head, listening to Kira gasp, gag and sputter, the soaking cloth laying on the floor at her feet. His blackened eyes traced her outline, and a deep frown set on his face, "I think we're all out of scars.." He spoke sadly as he stroked the side of her cold face, grasping her chin to firmly hold her bloodshot eyes with his, "Whatever shall we do?"

"Go fuck yourself," Kira replied in airy gasps, trying to feebly yank her face from his grasp.

Tobi narrowed his eyes, his hand slowly slinking up to the top of her head as one of his sharp talons traced the soft outer edge of her canine ear, but he shook his head, "We won't go that far, yet," He trailed his hand down the side of her face, the center of her chest, around her stomach, and down to the side of her hip; his other hand rising to the opposite hip. He carefully positioned one finger on each at a slight angle, "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Kira wretched her eyes shut as he pressed his fingers in; the talons slicing through muscle wasn't terrible, but when she felt the knife-like nails scrape against the ball joints of her hips, her legs finally gave out. She screamed as the exposed flesh at her shoulder tugged with her weight, and Tobi promptly withdrew both fingers.

He smiled faintly, trailing around behind her out of her eyesight, "If you're sure, perhaps we will take something else: perhaps it will sway your decision,"

Kira leaned her head against her arm in exhaustion - she really didn't know how much longer she could do this; she didn't even know how long she already had been. She winced as she felt a firm grasp on the center of her tail, her brown eyes widening in realization, "No!" She shouted, trying to buck her legs in a poor attempt to escape his grasp, but the shooting pain through her hips kept her in place. She began to panic as she felt him place 3 very precise talons at the top of the base of her tail.

"Do you concede?" Tobi spoke cruelly and firm, his hands unmoving as she squirmed helplessly.

Kira squeezed her eyes shut: she couldn't give in, but she knew this would undoubtably be the most excrutiating pain she had ever experienced, perhaps that she ever would experience, "Just get it over with," She took a few deep breaths, sinking her teeth into her lip in preperation.

"If you insist," Tobi smiled gently, shoving his talons downwards; Kira cried out as they sliced cleanly through the fleshy portions; however, they were not strong enough to pierce the bone. He placed his hand on her lower back, directly above the base to her tail; he began working away, twisting, bending, splintering the delicate and sensitive caudal bones.

Kira found, very quickly, she was unable to scream, unable cry out, the breath had seemingly been frozen over in her chest; she could no longer hear the repulsive cracks coming from behind her, and her vision was quickly and steadily clouding. Adrenaline pulsed through her broken body; maybe, she thought, she was finally going into shock. But a sudden warmth was spreading through her limbs, coursing through her veins; this wasn't the welcome of unconsciousness, even the arms of death she was expecting; this was very different. Her eyes widened, though she could no longer see through them, 'No..'

Keep an eye out for 'Lone Wolf' 'Chapter 24: Kill Switch'!

-B.J.