Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Keeper of the Worlds ❯ Focus and Fear ( Chapter 2 )

K, I thought up the perfect title for the last chapter, so I named it "Beginning in the Middle", even though no one voted for any of the others. In fact, no one reviewed at all. Ggggrrrrrr…y'all are bugging me. It only takes maybe two minutes to write a quick review, and I need to know what you think about my fic.

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Last time on "Keeper of the Worlds": Kurama called Jiyami for help against an army of Improved Cultivated Humans, Kuwabara proved once again that he's a sexist, and Jiyami showed up with a surprising new look. Today we'll see why Kurama holds this weird chick in such high esteem.

~~Focus and Fear~~

"I have an idea. How about y'all let me deal with these drones and just sit back and watch? Although y'might want to get out of the middle of this mess and create a barrier, y'know, just in case," Jiyami suggested, turning to face the Tantei and flash another grin.

"Yeah, right, and let you make some HUMAN mistake, like tripping over your own feet or something, and getting yourself killed, leaving us to finish this on our own? I'm staying," Hiei responded, giving an I-don't-trust-you glare in Jiyami's direction.

"Hiei!" Kurama exclaimed, although Hiei couldn't tell if it was a warning of her temper or just an admonition of his rudeness.

"You're a fire youkai, correct?" she asked him, ignoring Kurama.

"Hn, how observant," he sneered, unimpressed with her deduction.

"Alright, stay if you want, just don't get in my way (his nostrils flared and he bared his fangs at her in one of his most deadly-looking scowls). The rest of you get outta here, and be sure to make that barrier, I might decide to get serious," she said, flashing another grin before she turned all of her attention to the mass around her. She faintly heard Kurama ushering Yusuke and Kuwabara away from the scene, as she blocked everything from her mind except the impending battle.

"Okay, who wants to die first?" she asked none of the Cultivated Humans in particular. "Then again, it doesn't really matter who dies first, since none of y'all are gonna live that much longer anyway," she answered herself, smirking at the thought of what the bastards would look like when she was through with them. Catching sight of Hiei cutting down Cultivated Humans with his sword, which he had lit with a bluish flame, to her left, she decided to go right.

Her gun hung at her right hip by means of a leather strap attached to two of her belt loops. She unhooked one end of the strap, which promptly dropped its load, that she caught with her right foot, balancing it in the middle for a moment before flipping it up and deftly catching it in her left hand, at the same time drawing her sword with her right. She lifted the end of what was left of the barrels to the forehead of the nearest Cultivated Human and pulled the trigger, at the same time also lighting her sword with a green flame and slashing through three more of the green zombies.

The fight continued this way for about ten more minutes, Jiyami steadily dispatching hundreds of Cultivated Humans. Her speed seemed to be about the same as Hiei's, although she didn't seem to notice that it was unordinary for a human to possess the remarkable amount of strength needed to accomplish such a feat. She also displayed incredible knowledge of her weapons and the styles she used, reloading her gun with the same hand she carried it in and at the same time never faltering in step or attack with sword or limb.

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Hiei had been holding back in speed so that he could watch Kurama's friend as she fought. He immediately noticed that, despite what he supposed was her usual annoying-people-is-fun attitude, she was completely focused in battle and never once misstepped or miscalculated. Every movement was designed to use the least amount of energy and cause the most damage possible. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he did have to admit that he was impressed.

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After another few minutes of beating down the oncoming masses, Jiyami noticed that they were thinning out. /The bastards sending them must not be able to create them as quickly as we're destroying them/ she thought, not giving undue credit to Hiei for his share in the work. /Good thing, too, I'm getting bored. I wonder if those portals go both ways? Well, only one way to find out./ She decided the easiest thing to do would be to finish off the rest of the Cultivated Humans in one blow, then charge through one of the portals before any more of them could come through to slow them down.

"Hiei! Go get the others and teleport them back here as soon as I'm finished with my attack!" she yelled through the throng of mindlessness, putting enough of an it's-not-up-for-discussion tone to it so that he merely nodded and flashed away to a spot on the outside of the semi-circle of portals that expelled the endless numbers of enemies. Although she couldn't see them past the masses, she knew he'd joined the others when she felt his energy disappear, meaning that he'd stepped through the barrier and was relatively protected from her attack.

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Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara had been standing just outside the perimeters of the battle for about fifteen minutes when Hiei appeared at their sides behind the barrier.

"What happened, Hiei?" Kurama asked calmly, looking down at the koorime.

Not looking back up at Kurama and instead staring intently towards where he had left Jiyami, he replied, "She said for me to come here and teleport you back as soon as she finishes with her attack."

Kuwabara's jaw dropped. "Hey, Urameshi, wouldn't that mean that the Shrimp got told somethin' to do an' he actually did it?" he asked, with an it's-a-sign-of-the-apocalypse tremor in his already-grating voice.

"I-I think that's what he said, unless I'm hearing things or your stupidness is rubbing off on me," Yusuke replied, gaping down at the back of Hiei's head as if some explanation of his unnatural behavior show up there.

Hiei snorted at the both of them and responded, "Yes, I did do what someone told me to, you weren't hearing things, but the Baka's stupidity is rubbing off on you . I could tell from the way she fought before that if she were going to use a powerful attack, it wouldn't be a good idea to stay out in the open where I would receive damage from it as well," he sneered, still intent to see this attack of hers, and thinking of throwing Kuwabara out into the open.

"For her to warn you to come here means she must be using a very powerful attack, indeed. She can judge the strength of others quite accurately from simply seeing a few of their movements, even when they are holding back. We need to reinforce the barrier," Kurama mused out loud, giving more of his strength to the walls of energy surrounding them at the same time.

Yusuke and Kuwabara also increased the levels of energy that they were donating to the don't-get-incinerated-by-some-super-huge-attack fund, as they called it, and Hiei joined in, unwarding his Jagan to multiply the strength of the barrier (yes, Hiei "joined in", he wasn't asked to or threatened by any of the others).

The barrier now powered up enough to take on even a full power Dragon of the Darkness Flame attack, the Tantei settled in to what was sure to be a no-expense-spared light show.

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As soon as she felt Hiei's energy disappear, Jiyami re-attached the loose end of her gun strap and replaced the shotgun back in its makeshift holster. She then straightened her arms in front of her, bringing her blade forward, perpendicular to the ground, closed her eyes, and started a chant to bring forth her attack.

"Blue Water, come forth and drown,

Quake and swallow, Earth, brown,

White Wind, blow away my foe,

And you, burn, red Fire from below.

Four elements, unite as one,

Do my bidding 'til thy tasks are done.

Come forth, I seek your aid,

Help ensure their debts are paid."

Her eyes snapped open (ooohhh, dramatic!) and she raised her arms, bending her elbows, bringing her sword over and behind her head. With a loud cry, she slammed the blade into the ground, causing it to crack and shake beneath their feet, both hers and the mass of Cultivated Humans. But the shaking did not stop. It appeared as though the first of the four Elements had obeyed her call. As the ground shook, it cracked open and swallowed many of the monstrosities.

But she didn't stop there. Jiyami then grasped the hilt in her right hand, wrist twisted so the blade faced behind her and was parallel to the ground, and spun clockwise, crouching to increase velocity. She rose just before reaching her original position, and stopped at the full-circle point, both hands on the hilt, with the blade now facing forward and to her left, pointing slightly down. The air she had stirred around her swirled, although it didn't stop. Instead, it increased in speed and became a full-fledged tornado. The second Element joined the first in wiping out the army.

She sheathed her sword and climbed onto a nearby boulder to wait for the other two Elements to come. She didn't have to wait for long. Water came first, as the ever-present clouds of Makai's atmosphere were pulled to the spot by the power of Wind, and the air was so thick with humidity that it was impossible to breathe and many of the Cultivated Humans drowned in minutes. Jiyami used a breather that she always carried around just in case, and the Tantei had their barrier.

The clouds shortly dissipated to their normal state, leaving only Fire to come and end the slaughter. And not a minute after Water left, Fire burst through the cracks that Earth had made and was still deepening. The most devastating element swept through the war-zone, smelling of brimstone and burning flesh as it burned everything in its path. The fourth Element truly had come from below.

After about ten minutes of Fire's rampage, its body grew tired and slowed. Jiyami stood on the boulder where she had waited and removed her shotgun from its holster and loaded it with two specially marked red shells. She brought her arm up straight before her, parallel to the ground and fired two shots into its body between herself and a nearby portal. The slowed Fire appeared to have absorbed the shells and not affected by them, but three seconds later, a hardened path appeared in front of her that lead to the portal. She started walking, slightly unshielding some of her energy so Hiei could teleport to the right spot.

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The Tantei had been watching what they could see of her attack, and were all glad they had increased the strength of the barrier, especially during Fire's onslaught, as they were now buried in lava.

"I believe she's done now," Kurama stated, sounding smug, astonished, and thankful at the same time.

"Hn." Hiei grabbed the rest of the Tantei, including Kuwabara, despite how tempted he was to leave him and let him fry, and teleported to a foot behind the new energy he felt.

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Jiyami turned to see Hiei appear with Kurama and the others. "Although it looks like some of the Four made it through the portals and destroyed any immediate opposition, more will be on the way. I suggest we hurry," she said, waving her hand in front of her and indicating the path to the portal.

"Right, let's go!" Yusuke said, apparently feeling as though his leadership was being challenged by this weird girl, and wanting to be in command again.

"As you wish, uh, what's your name?" Jiyami asked.

But instead it was Kurama who answered, with a sweatdrop and embarrassed hand behind his head, "I'm so sorry, I've forgotten my manners! Guys, this is Jiyami. Jiyami, these are Yusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwabara, and I believe you've already met Hiei," he said, indicating each as he said his name.

"Yo, nice ta meetcha, Jiyami!" Yusuke said, grinning and holding out his hand, which she shook, nodding and smiling back, saying, "Nice to meet you, too."

Kuwabara, however, was trying his best not to look scared, but slipped when he asked "What are the chances of you getting pissed off at me enough to use that attack?" at the end of an already high pitched, "Um, yeah, great to meet ya, Jiyami, um, don't take it personal or nothin' but I think I'll stay behind Kurama, I mean I think I have some sort of bug or something and I don't want to give it to you or nothin', y'know, heh heh heh."

"O-kay, sure, you do that, and the only way I ever use that attack is if I have an innumerable amount of enemies. So don't worry about it if you piss me off…" she said.

"Really?" Kuwabara asked, taking two steps away from Kurama and standing at his side.

"Really. Of course, if you did piss me off that much, I'd just have to do some sort of long, drawn out, permanent-emotional-damage-causing torture and let you survive to live in constant fear of ever speaking to anyone ever again, y'know, if I decide to leave you able to speak…" she trailed off, enjoying the effect it caused in Kuwabara, who was now apparently paralyzed with fear with the exception of trembling violently and one of his bulging eyes was twitching uncontrollably.

When finally able to speak, Kuwabara managed to splutter, "W-w-would-d y-you r-re-really d-do th-that?"

Jiyami burst out laughing, as did Kurama and Yusuke, and even Hiei had to work very hard to hide a smile, although he also looked very disappointed (wonder why?).

"What?! You mean you were lying?! What was that for?!" Kuwabara yelled when he figured out that they were making fun of him.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist!" Jiyami said, out of breath, holding a stitch in her side with one hand and wiping her eyes with the other. "But once you get over the fact that you were the target, you have to admit it was funny."

Kuwabara crossed his arms in front of him, stuck his nose in the air, and said as seriously as he could, "It was not funny, no matter who's viewpoint you look at it from," but broke the serious air he had adopted when he added, "unless you're looking at it from the Shrimp's viewpoint, but everything's got to look different from way down there…" he was the one to trail off now, grinning down at Hiei, challenging him to respond.

Jiyami cut in, preventing Kuwabara from getting his ass kicked (for now). "Y'know, if you attempt to insult him by calling him short, you're also challenging me. And even though I said I was joking about torturing you, don't think I won't still beat you to a pulp," she said, smirking up at him. "And remember, since I'm short, it means I gotta aim lower, and I don't think you'd like that a whole lot. Now can we get going, 'cuz I'm sure throwing insults right over Kuwabara's head gets boring after a few seconds," she said, striding over to the portal, followed by the Tantei.

"I believe Yusuke wanted to lead," Jiyami said as they reached the mouth of the portal, and she stepped aside to let him pass.

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Ok, I know I said I'd explain Jiyami's job in this chapter, but I didn't want to have to write four more pages of stuff, but I promise I will next chapter. At least this chapter made some sense as opposed to the last chapter. I had a surge of inspiration all of a sudden, and words just flowed from my fingertips. Weird, especially considering I suck at poetry, but I somehow managed to write a somewhat good-sounding chant in a short period of time without having to think so hard that smoke would come out of my ears.

Whatever, chapter names, vote, suggest your own, you know by now:

1.) Four Elements and Picking on Kuwabara

2.) Focus and Fear

3.) Big Fight and Not Quite as Big Laughs

K, also, I need characters soon, so send in ideas, and don't make me beg for reviews, it isn't pretty when I beg, ppppllllleeeeaaaaassssseeee review!!!