InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Wild Blue Roses ❯ A Tiger's True Nature ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter Seven

A Tiger's True Nature

 

Ravana's condition improved swiftly over the next three days to the point where, after due consideration, Marcus and Kiena deemed it possible for her to take a bath, as she had been begging to do for the last three days. She was, however, to be under an armed escort. Yoko immediately volunteered. Kiena, trusting the fox, but not wanting to put Marcus's nerves under any more tension, said that she also would accompany the miserable fire tiger to the nearby hot springs.

**

“It's not that I don't trust you, Yoko, it's that Marcus doesn't trust you. She is his daughter after all,” Kiena whispered as she carried a sleeping Ravana toward the hot springs.

“I think she's melted my heart into a nice little pool,” Yoko replied softly as he gazed at the fiery hair atop the sleeping woman's head.

“If you try to mate her without Marcus's knowledge, he'll fire brand you to death.”

“What's a fire brand?”

“That's right; you're not as old as I keep thinking you are. A fire brand is a fire tiger's short range attack. It's a short range burst of flames that get hotter than the hottest lava on the planet. You would be lucky to die swiftly,” Kiena explained.

Yoko gulped and glanced back to make sure that no one was following. He then walked over to Ravana.

“Would you like me to get you there faster?” he whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

Ravana nodded, and Yoko picked her up and ran off. Kiena growled and chased after them as they neared the hot springs. It wasn't long before Yoko and Ravana burst through the trees to come upon the shores of a beautiful sapphire hot springs.

“This is where the workers obtained the sapphire inlay and the aqua slate used on the water gates. When they hollowed out the sheer rock face they found this place. I found it after falling off the cliff up there when I was a cub. Matter of fact, I wasn't much older than our guides,” Kiena whispered from behind the two.

Yoko looked up at the top of the sheer cliff. It was over a ninety foot drop to the hot springs below. It would be the last thing he'd ever want to see alive; he could say that for certain.

**

As Ravana and Yoko walked back to the camp site, Kiena knew that there would be trouble. She made a split second decision.

“Stop! I need to tell you something,” she shouted.

“What?”

“Yoko… you and Ravana need to go take the path down to the city and wait at the palace. Give them this royal seal so that they will let you in. We need to leave. I know where the shards are. Ravana… the man down there… he isn't the real Marcus…”

“What…”

“While you two were… getting to know each other… I was looking around and I spotted… this…” Kiena said before showing them the red tunic she had found.

“That was… Mother's… dad never went anywhere without it… what was it doing…” Ravana trailed off.

“Yes, Ravana, he's dead. I believe… he was pushed off the cliff… A demon possessed the body… Marcus… if he cares about you like you said he did… would never have allowed you to go up here alone. Kagome kept saying that she sensed shards whenever Marcus was around. I think we need to kill him… to put your father's soul to rest.”

Ravana nodded and buried her head in Yoko's shoulder.

“Yoko, take her back to the palace. Do what you can to make her comfortable. I will try to make it as swift a death as possible incase that part of his soul still lives within. I apologize, but there is no other way,” Kiena said.

Yoko walked the saddened girl back to the road and Kiena braced herself. It was now her duty to kill an old friend.

**

“Kagome… I know where the shards are…”

“Where's Ravana?” Marcus asked.

“She is still at the hot springs. She asked me to get something from Kagome for her,” Kiena lied.

“Where are the shards?” Kagome whispered as she pretended to rummage about in her back pack.

“In the demon that has taken over Marcus's body,” Kiena replied.

She stood still and silent for nearly a minute before Marcus walked up behind her. He made a grunting sound as Kiena's sword was thrust into him by InuYasha, who had been given a telepathic message by Kiena herself to take the sword and kill Marcus. Four shards fell out of Marcus's bleeding body as it crumbled to dust. Kuronue raced to Kiena's side as Kagome purified the shards.

“He has lived longer than most. He was dead long before we met him here, however,” Kiena said as she wept for the death of her friend.

**

The Shards Hunters, the Queen and King, Yoko, Hiei and Ravana set out only an hour later. The death of her father did not seem to take from Ravana's view of the world. She still believed that there was hope for the people of the lands below. Kiena remained adamant, however, that Ravana be placed under Yoko's guard.

“It's for the best,” Kiena explained, despite the protests from Ravana that she could take care of herself.

 

Kiena walked toward the miasma infested area silently. Behind her, Yoko stood at the ready with several air cleaning plants. Ravana stood behind him, ready to burn out the miasma if Yoko's plants failed. Kiena beckoned Yoko and Ravana forward to the edge of the mist. Yoko set his plants at the edge and waited. The air got no cleaner or less dense with each passing moment. It was time for Kiena and Ravana to fire brand the miasma to oblivion.

Kiena and Ravana unleashed their power on the miasma and beckoned for the group to follow them into the mists. A wall that was four abreast and no less than seven foot tall was cut through the miasma. The tiger army which was following them into the mists walked four abreast all the way. By the time the first set of four reached the castle gates, the last set of four had barely entered the mists. It was a close call to get them all into the tower where Naraku had holed up in. Kiena looked up and gasped. She was very familiar with this tower. Very familiar indeed.

“No…” she whispered.

“What?”

“NO!”

Kiena slammed into the doors and took the stairs at a run that not even Yoko Kurama could keep up with. Her shouts of no echoed down the stair well one after the other as she raced to the top of the tall tower. Kuronue flew up into the tower and he was the only one who saw what was going on at the top.

“You killed her! You destroyed my family! You made my life a living fucking hell for sixty fucking years!” she screamed at him.

Naraku spun around, thrown off his guard by the sudden appearance of the tiger queen. Kagura raced in and stopped. She knew of the strength possessed by even the weakest of Elemental Tigers when they were angry. Now was her chance.

“Kagura, help me!” Naraku cried out as Kiena drew Shadow Fire.

Kagura simply stood there, watching as Kiena went from pissed off to some unknown degree of anger. Her eyes turned to liquid fire. Her black hair which fell to the floor shrunk to a choppy shoulder length cut and turned to the color of fire. Her muscles which had lain quiet and dormant under her skin filled out and seemed to bulge the skin at the seams. Her chest filled itself out. After sixty years of silence about what she had done the night she jumped out of the sanctuary had eaten her up inside, she didn't think it was possible to find her true nature, but she was wrong. Shadow Fire seemed to realize that its true master was now on the face of the world. Black flames licked the edge of the blade as Naraku seemed to shrink into the corner. He knew that he could not defeat this woman, no matter how powerful he could become. Kiena didn't stop to admire the new beauty that she had become. Instead, she lunged forward and thrust the sword into Naraku's stomach. Sitting on the desk nearby was a small boy. Her head whipped around and her eyes darted back and forth between the man pinned to the wall and the small boy.

“So you're where he's hidden his heart. Not with you, in you. Well, I know how to fix that,” Kiena growled.

She pulled a dagger out of the boot she wore and threw it into the chest of the small boy. Both the boy and Naraku wreathed in pain. Kuronue hovered in shock at the door. Kiena's short choppy hair swung forward as she moved with unheard of speed to finish the boy, and Naraku, in one swoop. A sickening crack rang out in the air and the boy was dead. His neck was turned in an awkward angle that signaled the tiger Queen had broken the young boy's neck.

“What the hell happened?” Kuronue whispered.

The tiger queen fell to her knees. Her hair grew back out again, but it remained the fiery color it had turned. Her eyes were slowly drained of their fire, but they remained a brilliant blue red combination that seemed like it wanted to make purple, but couldn't quite blend. Shadow Fire clattered to the floor and the flames disappeared.

“I need to get out of these loose clothes. It won't do to wear these anymore. They reek of Naraku,” Kiena said absentmindedly.

“I guess we didn't need to bring an army,” Yoko tried to joke from the door way.

In truth, the kitsune was scared out of his wits about what had just happened. Sure, they all knew that Kiena had killed Naraku when the miasma lifted from outside the walls, but they had no clue that she could be so vicious. She had just killed a seemingly innocent boy without so much as a second thought. She seemed to know instantly that Hakudoushi was Naraku's heart. How, no one could fathom… save Ravana.

“Tell your friends to meet me after she goes to get a bath. I will explain what has happened after she is out of earshot,” Ravana said to Yoko.

He nodded, and watched the Kiena walked into the sunset.

**

“She has gone through a transformation that has caused her to find her true nature. She retained all, and I mean all, of her powers, but now she's unlocked the full powers of each elemental tiger. She is, in essence, the most powerful tiger ever. Not even the original light tigers could defeat her now. Her personality will only have grown more… sensual… I guess… because it appears her true nature is that of a Fire Tiger. Fire Tigers are the most… friendly, I guess… of the Elemental Tigers. We have a tendency to be very… open,” Ravana explained.

Yoko smirked at the girl, causing her to blush slightly.

“Well, that explains loads of things… but what brought this on?” Kuronue asked.

“Honestly, when my father told me about what happened when she left… I was almost certain she wouldn't be able to do it… given the shock that radiated out of the room, she didn't either. Naraku was just scared shitless. I suppose… I'd better start at the beginning. Her mother… wasn't mated when Kiena was born. Inutaishou claimed her as his own, and even blood bound her to him, making her his kin. She is older than Sesshomaru, but Sesshomaru would still be considered a cub by standards in the sanctuary. Inevitably, however, the real father was found out. It was a fox demon by the name of Kavin. He was a silver kitsune, and he was also on Her Majesty's guard. Eventually, he was killed in a battle. The one Kiena always called father, according to Daddy, was one of the nobles. I never remember his name, but he was powerful. He also loved Her Majesty. Kiena grew up knowing Inutaishou and the noble as her father, but never Kavin. Kavin would play with her on the grounds, and eventually he was transferred to Kiena's guard. As a matter of fact, he was killed in an attempt to protect her after she ran off into the wilds shortly after the death of her mother. When it was announced that Kiena was the first born heir, and eligible by law to be voted into Queenship, Kiena tried to erase the law and change it so that she wasn't. She thought she would get us all killed, all because she had killed the man she had always wanted to call father… in fact, the one who came closest to actually being a father. In her mind, that was how it was. She killed six guards getting out of the palace. She lashed out at them for trying to keep her in and they paid for it. It was then that she swan dived to what went into the history books as her death. We couldn't elect a new Queen because Lady Chrystal was convinced that she was alive and continued to state that no election could take place until Kiena returned. It was three years after Chrystal left the sanctuary to get Kiena that the noble was killed. I've never heard what happened to Inutaishou,” Ravana said.

“My father was killed by Ryukotsusei the dragon. He would have lived, but he gave his life for his human mate and my younger brother, InuYasha,” Sesshomaru replied.

“I'm sorry. Inutaishou was truly a great man. I met him in my younger years. He was looking for Kiena,” Ravana replied.

“It's alright. If he hadn't done what he did InuYasha wouldn't be here.”

“I always heard that you didn't like your younger brother, or humans for that matter. I would like to know why you have a human mate and seem to get along fairly well with Master InuYasha, if you don't mind telling me that is,” Ravana pleaded.

“Kagome melted my heart. That allowed me to see my brother's virtues.”

Ravana nodded.

**

 

Kiena slept curled in Kuronue's warmth. Despite the depth of her sleep, she tossed and turned and scratched like she was chasing something. Kuronue wrapped his arms tighter around her in an effort to calm her down. Still, Kiena fought with some formidable foe. Suddenly she shot up in the makeshift bed.

“RAVANA!” she screamed.

Yoko looked down at where the fire demoness had lain down to sleep when he had. Instead of a wide eyed woman, he found naught but air. The fox's eyes began to glow, as did Kiena's. The girl shot out of the bed and pulled on her clothes at a frantic pace. A tight leather top and short leather shorts were pulled on. She also put on her belt that held Shadow Fire. She leaped into the air and transformed into a glowing rainbow colored tiger. Yoko leaped onto her back and she took off toward the woods where Ravana's scent lead. The pair flew close to the tops of the trees and followed a curved pattern. There were scents from several demons that she was obviously fleeing from. It wasn't long before Kiena's strong wings lead them to a clearing. She touched down and immediately transformed into her human form. She leaped at a particularly large demon and drew her sword. When Shadow Fire detected her anger and need to protect, flames licked the edge. She thrust it into the demon beneath her and jumped back off. She rushed another demon as Yoko tried frantically to defend Ravana from the leader; a deadly blood demon. He sustained a mortal wound as he killed the demon.

“No! Yoko, please, don't die on me!” Ravana screamed.

Kiena caught the words and her anger reached an all new height. She thrust her sword into the ground and a shock wave reached into the edges of the clearing. In an instant all the demons were destroyed. She raced over to Ravana and Yoko.

“Yoko, you die on me now and I'll kick your ass for the rest of a life time,” Kiena growled through her tears.

“I… can't stop… it… this time…”

“No! Use your power… take a human form… don't die when we need you the most, you self centered jerk… don't fucking do this to me!”

“Are… you suggesting… I go into the future…”

“YES! Do it! Ravana needs you! I need you! Just do it! We'll find you!”

Yoko's form went limp as his soul raced for the future. Entering ningenkai, he found a human woman that was pregnant. He entered her body and took over the child. Now he would be able to find his one true love again.

**

Kagome placed the last shard in the jewel and it began to glow.

“I wish for my friends' happiness,” she said.

You have done well to reassemble us. Your wish, though pure, will not remove us from this world. I am sorry. We will return you to your own time. Each of your friends will see you again. Your son, the kitsune known as Shippo, will travel back with you. I ask you a question; do you consider this Kiena a friend?

 

Yes

 

She too will have happiness. Peace comes in time, but there is not peace in the land of demons in your own time. You must make peace there. To do that, you will become yokai. We have chosen a most powerful form for you. See you on the other side.

 

Kagome felt the world fall away. When she woke up, Shippo was cradled in her arms. She was home.