Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Dragon’s Promise ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

Title: A Dragon's Promise

By: Kiba/KibaSin

Summary: When an ancient spell begins to crack, the Dragon of the Darkness Flame's past comes back to haunt Hiei in more ways than one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. They belong to Takahashi Rumiko-sama and Yoshihiro Togashi-sama.

Rating: T

Genre: General

 

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The wind picked up forcefully, whipping the thick, black strands of hair into the air. Yet, the woman refused to be moved, while her hand clenched around the small, round object shining between her fingertips. Her feet dug deep into the soil, defying the increasing wind, even when it caught a hold of her clothing and whipped it around her flesh.

 

Anchoring herself firmly, the woman closed her eyes and unleashed her energy. It instantly bathed the land in a light blue hue, while burrowing its way deep into the confines of the Earth. And then, settled, it pulsed. Her energy called out again, pulsing, and it was not long before a deafening roar answered the call.

 

Black fire spewed from the ground, rising upward. It flickered in the woman's determined blue eyes, making them appear darker, as a creature began to form within the black flames. The creature roared only once, forcing the swollen clouds above them to release the rain they held in thick droplets, before it settled its flaming red eyes upon the woman.

 

Raising her hand, the woman allowed the pink light shining from the object there to caress the creature's black hide. Then, her voice low and demanding, she called, “I have accepted your terms. The Shikon no Tama is yours.”

 

Through the darkness and the rain, the creature's red eyes brightened considerably. It roared again, immediately lifting itself from the ground and flying at the woman with increasing speed. Within a flash, the Shikon lay cradled in its claw, while the drenched woman crumbled to the ground. Yet the creature did not leave her there, as it gripped her clothing and lifted her into the sky, seeking out a suitable place to fulfill its end of the bargain.

 

The Shikon no Tama, shining brightly within flight, sank slowly into the creature's hide. And despite the evil nature that radiated from within the creature, the purity locked deep within the little jewel latched itself onto the creature and fueled it with its power. It became a part of the creature, changing it, as the beast sought out the perfect place to leave the jewel's pervious guardian.

 

Chapter One

 

“Tell us why we're here, damn it,” Yusuke growled.

 

Koenma shot him a dark look, while he continued to shuffle through the thick load of files upon his desk. He grumbled a little afterward, cursing the ungrateful boy, though he knew it was not Yusuke's fault that his desk had become a disaster zone.

 

Kurama coughed behind his hand, smiling a little. “While I would not have asked so harshly, I believe we would all like to know why we have been summoned, Koenma,” he said.

 

Nodding, Kuwabara agreed, “Yeah.”

 

“Yes, well,” Koenma huffed, “when I find—” he paused, “—Oh, here it is!”

 

“About damn time,” Yusuke muttered in annoyance.

 

Glaring at Yusuke once more, Koenma roughly turned on the screen at their left. “If you'll all direct your attention to the screen,” he hissed. “Now—”

 

“What the fuck?” Yusuke exclaimed. He had to squint his eyes a little to make sure he was actually seeing what he thought he saw, before he blinked in surprise. “Is that a woman?”

 

The group blinked in surprise, even Hiei, who leaned a little further into the wall against his back.

 

“Yes,” Koenma sighed. He was never going to get any work done today. “This is a videotape taken in an isolated part of the Makai. The land there is said to be sacred and demons tend to avoid it as much as they can, however, it has recently been brought to my attention that this woman, clearly trapped in a crystal formation as you can see, is located in the center of the area. The fact that she is trapped there did not concern me all that much—”

 

“What!?” Kuwabara snapped. “How can you not—”

 

“—or, at least it didn't, until,” Koenma continued, “I managed to find out who the woman was exactly.”

 

“And who is she exactly?” Kurama asked.

 

“Her name is Higurashi Kagome,” Koenma sighed. “Her purpose in life was to destroy an evil half-demon named Naraku, while collecting the shards of a jewel she managed to break five hundred years ago.”

 

Kurama's eyes flashed gold, as Youko rose to the surface. “A broken jewel? You would not happen to be speaking of the Shikon no Tama, would you, Koenma?”

 

Curiously, Hiei felt the dragon wriggle a bit beneath the wards he had placed upon it. He glanced down at the arm, subconsciously flexing his fingers, while the creature tried to burn its way through the thick wards. However, he was quick to suppress it, allowing the Jagan to slip open a crack to bring it back under his control.

 

“I would,” Koenma replied.

 

“Odd,” Kurama muttered. “I had heard that it disappeared.”

 

“It did,” Koenma told them. “However, because Kagome's incarnation, a miko by the name of Kikyo, had ordered the jewel to be burned with her body, the Shikon no Tama attached itself to the girl's soul. As a result, when she was finally reincarnated, the jewel formed inside her body over the course of fifteen years. And on her fifteen birthday, the devious little thing reactivated the magic inside a well on the girl's shrine and drug her five hundred years into the past.”

 

Sighing, Kurama said, “If you had listened to my pervious statement, Koenma, you would know that I already knew the jewel reappeared the first time. I was speaking of the second, after the battle with Naraku.”

 

“O-oh,” Koenma grinned nervously. “Of course.”

 

“Well?” Kurama pressed.

 

Yusuke snickered silently to himself. It was great to finally see the toddler squirm.

 

“Unfortunately, the girl somehow managed to slip by us after the battle with Naraku,” Koenma sighed. “She just disappeared completely one week after it occurred, taking the completed Shikon no Tama with her.”

 

“But,” Kuwabara asked, “how did she end up there?”

 

“I don't know,” Koenma shook his head.

 

The dragon began to wriggle again. Hiei quickly, once again, suppressed it. The fact that the beast was becoming excited made him curious, but nothing good would ever come from the dragon's release. So, he pressed it down, positive that the dragon would not slip through the wards and the Jagan's hold.

 

Before Koenma could speak again, Yusuke cut in, saying, “Let me guess, you want us to break her out of there?”

 

Glaring at the teen, Koenma growled, “Yes and no.”

 

“Yes and no?” Yusuke blinked. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Do you want us to break her out of there or not?”

 

“If you had been paying any attention at all,” Koenma huffed, “you'd know that this is a videotape taken within the area. I have not played it yet, Yusuke, which is the reason for my answer.”

 

“Well, then play the damn tape already so we can get out of here,” Yusuke replied.

 

Shaking his head at the disrespect Yusuke continued to use, Koenma allowed his finger to press the button that activated the videotape. It took a moment, but the screen slowly began to play, frame by frame, as the trapped woman continued to sleep peacefully within her tomb.

 

“Is something supposed to happen?” Kuwabara asked.

 

“Just wait a moment,” Koenma said. “Just watch.”

 

Suddenly, as a deafening crack flitted into the room, the side of the woman's tomb split a part. A large chunk of the crystal formation fell to the ground with a thump, before it dissolved away in a matter of seconds.

 

“Did that just—?”

 

“Yes it did, Kuwabara,” Kurama nodded in surprise. He had expected a demon to come forth from the background, somehow steal the woman, and laugh in the face of the Gods. He had lightly expected a demon to come sensing the Shikon no Tama, for surely the woman still had it, before trying to tear into the crystal formation with no luck. But, the last thing he expected was for the crystal to break suddenly and without warning, especially when there was nothing around the woman that might have caused such a thing.

 

The tape played on, another loud crack filling the room when another piece of crystal fell from the woman's side. And it became quite obvious that her hand was nearly free, and depending on when the video was taken, might already be.

 

“You see,” Koenma said, “the crystal formation she is trapped within is beginning to dissolve away for some strange reason. My father and I are not certain if it is because of Kagome or some outside force at this moment, but we do know that it will be disastrous if the crystal dissolves completely and she somehow manages to awaken. And even if she doesn't, there is a good chance that the missing Shikon no Tama is on her person, and demons are going to flock there in order to obtain it—”

 

The dragon wriggled, twisting, and Hiei began aware of the small amount of black fire rising up and away from the edges of the wards he had placed upon the beast. He nearly growled, placing his other hand upon the fabric, while the dragon became increasingly defiant.

 

Kurama glanced in his direction, eyes narrowing. Hiei? he called.

 

It's nothing, the hybrid replied. Quickly, he cut off the link and shut out the curious fox. After all, the dragon was under his control now, and it would listen to his command. It would calm itself once it realized it could not escape his hold, and then there would be no problem.

 

“—So, I'm sending you four out in order to retrieve Higurashi Kagome, or at least the body if she does not awaken,” Koenma finished. “We cannot allow the Shikon to fall in the wrong hands, no matter what.”

 

Surprisingly, Hiei felt the dragon hiss in amusement, the hair on his arm rising, before it became still.

 

“What are we wa—?” Yusuke began.

 

“However,” Koenma coughed, “it is going to take us at least three hours to obtain a fixed lock on the area in order to send you there. The energy that Kagome emits, which I now believe is the reason demons tend to shy away from the area, hides her location and makes it nearly impossible to create a portal anywhere near the place.”

 

Yusuke bristled, shouting, “What!? You drug us all the way here to tell us all this shit, only to make us wait three hours in order to actually leave?! Why the hell didn't you just call us three hours from now?!”

 

“I wouldn't have enough time to explain!” Koenma snapped. “Kagome's holy energy would have destroyed the lock and you would have had to wait anyway! And, not only that, Yusuke, but I don't think you want to go prancing around the Makai in the middle of the night!”

 

“What's that supposed to mean?” Yusuke yelled.

 

“It means that you might get yourself killed, again!” Koenma roared. The boy was walking toward him, his voice increasing in volume, so he quickly rose up in his chair and placed his hands onto his desk to lean forward. There was no way Urameshi Yusuke was going to push him around, not today!

 

“Toddler—!”

 

Closing his eyes, Kurama sighed. Then, turning his attention to his old friend, he asked, “Would you like to retreat to one of the rooms available in order to rest, Hiei?”

 

Recognizing the golden flash in the fox's eyes, Hiei growled, “You go to your room, fox. If I feel the need to rest, I will, and you will do well to keep your hands away from my person.”

 

`Prude little bastard,' Youko scoffed.

 

“Forgive me for having asked my question in such a way,” Kurama chuckled. “Youko has been rather restless lately.”

 

`Damn right I have,' Youko growled. `Something is going to happen, I can feel it in my bones.'

 

You don't have any, Hiei reminded him.

 

`It's a figure of speech!' Youko hissed, clearly not in the mood.

 

Turning his attention away from the spirit locked inside his conscious, Kurama looked toward their other companion. “How about you, Kuwabara?” he asked.

 

“Sure,” Kuwabara nodded. “I need the sleep, anyway, with how much Shizuru's been pushin' me around.”

 

“Well then, we're off,” Kurama said. “We'll see you later, Hiei.”

 

“Hn,” the hybrid shrugged. He had no need for sleep at the moment, and it would have been pointless to try and force himself into such a vulnerable state while in the Reikai. Besides, as he glanced down at his arm, he had much better ways to pass the time.