Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Before I Die ❯ Chapter 7

The storm had moved towards the west where Zexen territory was firmly set. The wind began to blow harshly upon the stone of the city walls, filling the air with the smell of rain. The clouds, once so bright and clear, grew dark in gray with thunder softly sounding though growing louder the closer the storm crept. The wind getting stronger every passing moment caused some stores to close early and people to hurry to their housing or the nearest open store until it would pass.

 

The windows at the Vinay Del Zexay inn began to rattle slightly upon the callused currents. Touya was fast asleep at the time and paid them no heed being the heavy sleeper he often was. Some of the wind managed to seep through the cracks of the windowsill and lick at the pallid skin of the ice demon, but, regardless, the demon didn't stir and remained there under his bed covers where his body throbbed with slight pain; especially in his throat area.

 

Simon watched the storm from inside as he shook his head of any negative feelings of Jin begin swept away within the powerful thunderstorm. I sure hope that fool didn't die out in that downpour. He is much too foolhardy, Simon thought to himself as he rested his elbows upon the bar counter.

 

His young wife, Elaine, came to the bar counter in the maroon dress she always wore every day with a white apron hanging from her waist. Her curly, brown hair swayed slightly as she looked over her shoulder at the empty dinning tables before bothering to eye her husband once more. “Do you want me to go check on the pale skinned young man upstairs, Simon? His redheaded friend has yet to return,” she pointed out from where she stood behind the barstools.

 

Simon ran his fingers through his stringy hair with a sigh before waving his wife away with a nod. “Please do so for me, Elaine…” His voice trailed off as he wished to be alone to think on the worries set firmly within his mind.

 

Elaine nodded at Simon as she headed for the old, wooden staircase, leading to the inn rooms upstairs. Each board creaked under her shoes as she made her way down the hall to the room rented out to the two, unseen demons. Her knuckles rapping upon the wooden door, she called to the other side. “Mr. Touya,” her delicate tone beckoned from behind the door's frame. “It is me, Elaine. Would you care to let me in?”

 

Nobody answered, and the door didn't move from where it was currently locked in place.

 

After waiting for a few seconds, Elaine dug into her apron's front pocket to pull out the set of keys she had on hand at all times. Flipping through them, she came upon the one used to lock and unlock the door before her. She inserted the silver key into the lock, turning it until she heard a clicking sound to indicate the door was unlocked. Elaine pressed against the wooden door to watch as it slowly swung open to let her inside. “Mr. Touya?” She called again, walking in with a gentle close of the door.

 

The ice demon was still there under the covers of his bed, sleeping soundly it appeared from where the woman currently stood before the door she had just come through.

 

Pocketing her keys in her apron's pocket, Elaine headed towards Touya's bedside with her hands folded before her. She felt a bit uneasy about disturbing the young man, even if she knew him and Jin very well given the years they had been living there. Her dainty hands placed upon his side, Elaine shook him gently. “Touya, wake up,” she beckoned close to his ear.

 

There was a slight pause in the man's deep breathing as he slowly roused from his slumber. The bed groaning from Touya's movements, he looked over his shoulder at Elaine, surprised to see her there of all people. “What is it?” He asked softly, rubbing his eyes. “Is something the matter?”

 

“No, I was just asked to come in and check on you,” Elaine answered, noticing slight signs of sweat on the man's face. She grabbed the edge of her apron to dab Touya's face with a tilt of her head in slight worry. “Are you sweating?”

 

Touya placed his palm upon his forehead to feel of the warm perspiration there with a sigh through his nostrils. “Apparently so,” he responded with a brief, sidewise smile. “It wouldn't be the first. I broke out in a bad sweat before.”

 

“But it isn't even that hot, Touya,” Elaine pointed out. “Apparently your illness is getting worse…whatever it is.”

 

“I wouldn't be surprised,” Touya said unenthusiastically, reaching for the glass of water, which was upon the nightstand nearby. After taking a few drinks of the water, he gazed about the bedroom not seeing any sign of Jin. “So, where is that big airhead, Jin? Is he still not here?” He tried not to sound worried, but Touya was feeling a bit concerned about the situation.

 

Elaine shook her head slowly. “I am sorry, Touya. I don't know where he went, but Simon assures me he is okay.”

 

Touya pulled the covers off of his body so he could move off of the bed and head for the bathroom. “I will be right back. I need to splash water on my face.”

 

The storm appeared to worsen from what Simon could see from beyond the bar counter. He was cleaning up the dishes and wooden counter top though a bit on edge as he watched the ocean waves rise up, threatening to wash over towards the inn's windows, as the inn was situated near the docks. The windows and door banged as the wind pushed against them. Simon tried to pay it no mind as he ducked down behind the counter to put the glasses he cleaned back where they originally were stocked. However the sound of the door flying open scared him to death, making Simon drop one of the glasses in his hands.

 

The young woman from the Grassland Clan made her way into the inn she had been directed to, soaking wet from head to toe. She stood there shaking before the door, which she closed behind her, before hurrying over to where the shocked Simon was standing over at the bar. “Excuse me, but is there a man by the name of `Touya' here?” She asked out of breath from the running she did.

 

Simon looked at the young Chisha woman with a raise of his brow. “Why are you asking for him?” He wondered until recalling Jin departing in that direction. “Did a man named `Jin' send you?”

 

“Yes,” she answered with a few quick nods. “So is the young man here?”

 

Simon made his way out from behind the bar, waving for the woman to follow him with his fingers. The young Grassland woman following behind him, he headed up the staircase to the second level to head down the hallway to the room belonging to the ill-stricken ice demon. “This is the room,” he said softly, knocking on the wooden, carved door. “Elaine, are you in there?”

 

Elaine got up from the bedside of where Touya was resting to open the door her husband was calling from behind. Finding the foreign woman's attire strange, she eyeballed her with a tilt of her head. “Who is this?”

 

“My name is Leola,” the Chisha woman answered. “I came here to watch over the young man over there and guide him to my clan in the Grasslands.” Leola made her way over to where Touya was sleeping upon the inn bed, dampened with sweat and the water he had splashed on his face previously.

 

Simon thumbed over his shoulder when addressing Elaine. “Come on, let's leave them alone. I am sure they will be fine in here,” he whispered, heading out of the inn room.

 

Elaine did as her husband suggested as she closed the door behind her.

 

Leola pulled one of the chairs close to Touya's bedside noticing the flushed look on the ice demon. She hesitated on touching him at first, with her hands slightly raised above his shaken form. Hurrying to the bathroom, she pulled down one of the clean towels before rushing back to the demon's side. The dabbing she did on the chilled, creature's skin caused him to stir.

 

Touya moaned softly before opening his eyes slowly to the dimly lit bedroom. His narrow eyes colored of the brightest blue falling upon Leola; he growled threateningly wondering who she was. “Who are you?” He asked defensively.

 

Determined not to buckle from the ice demon, Leola took in a deep breath and kept her feet firmly planted on the floor. “My name is Leola, and I am here to take care of you before helping you to my clan where your redheaded friend is located.”

 

Lifting his head up slightly confused, he looked over Leola best he could before lowering his head back down to the welcoming pillow seeing as his head was pounding, and his throat was burning. He knew the attire from one of his books he had read. Touya tried to search his memory for the placement of where Leola probably came from. “Are you…from a Grassland Clan?” He finally asked wearily.

 

“Yes, you sound unsure,” Leola pointed out, wiping Touya's face still. “I thought all Zexen citizens knew what a Grasslander looked like.”

 

“I don't get out much,” Touya was quick to point out with his weary tone. “All I can do is read books about your clans. It's the only window I have to the outside world these days.”

 

Leola looked over at the book Touya was partially gazing at to pick it up and gaze at the cover. “What is Grassland literature doing here? I thought this wasn't allowed behind Zexen's stone walls.”

 

“It's not,” the ice demon answered simply, closing his eyes with a sigh of frustration over his ill-fallen body. Hearing the wind howling beyond the windows with the rain tapping furiously upon the glass in its own rhythm, Touya hummed softly in thought. “How did you manage to get here in one piece in such a storm?”

 

“I got here thanks to the large bird creature your friend controls,” Leola explained, eyeing the storm as well from where she sat. “I fear trying to take you out in this weather, even if I promised him I would try to get you to Chisha.” She looked down at her own soaked form, removing the veil like headpiece, which cascaded down her back, she wore. “I myself will have to try and get warm unless I too want to fall ill.”

 

“So…Jin is actually at the Chisha Clan?” Touya wondered wearily, hefting himself up on his elbows for a moment to look at Leola better. “And nobody from the clan attacked him being who he is—you do know what we are, right?”

 

“We are not blind to the spirits whether damned or otherwise,” she answered, heading for the bathroom. “Your friend is alright. We are trying to keep him settled, so he won't destroy our village.”

 

“He threatened your clan?” Touya asked from the bed, the door to the bathroom cracked only slightly so Leola could change in private but hear any orders from the ice demon. “It figures. Jin was never a man to think with the small bit of brain he was blessed with.”

 

“It isn't his fault,” Leola sympathized. “When a loved one is in trouble and dancing with the spirits, people will say and do the craziest things.” Removing her wet clothing, which continued to drip upon the bathroom floor, she placed it on the side of the tub before grabbing a towel that was body length to dry herself off with. “I am sure your friend is just really worried over your well being, and it makes him on edge and angry when people try to stop him.”

 

Touya agreed silently. He gazed up at the ceiling, listening to the slight commotion going on behind the wooden, cracked restroom door. “Do you have anything else to change into? If you don't, there is something here belonging to Jin you can barrow. I am sure he wouldn't mind.” Touya pushed the covers off of his body to get to his feet and head over to the dresser.

 

“You want me to wear…men's clothing from Zexen?” Leola asked confused, peeking through the doorway with her body concealed behind the towel.

 

“I promise the clothes don't bite,” Touya assured as a joke, pulling out one of Jin's forest green, long-sleeved shirt with baggy, brown pants. He made his way over to the doorway Leola was standing within with the clothes in hand, giving them to her with a weary expression. “And they don't smell either, so don't worry.”

 

Leola didn't catch the humor in it as she accepted the clothing hesitantly. She shut the door before her to change in private once more. “I guess it wouldn't hurt to wear this until my clothes dry out.” Pulling the shirt over her head, she let the sleeves roll over her hands before working with the pants. “So, I am going to sit here with you and take care of you until the storm clears up.”

 

“Well, it may be awhile,” Touya pointed out with a sigh of exhaustion, wiping his forehead with the back of his head as he sat upon his bed's covers. “The smell of rain is quite heavy—so heavy that I can even smell it from in here.”

 

“Demon senses must be quite sharp,” said Leola as she made her way back to the main room. “It's amazing you can sense that even from in here behind closed doors.”

 

“You'd be amazed,” the ice demon said neutrally, rubbing his throat with his chilly hand.

 

Leola noticed the rubbing Touya did to his gullet. “Is something wrong with your throat?” She asked, sitting upon Jin's bed.

 

“Thanks to my coughing, it's gotten a little difficult to swallow without pain and not to mention the taste of blood,” Touya grumbled slightly, trying to use his cold touch to relax his sore throat.

 

“Well, why don't you lie down, and I will go get something for that to help,” Leola offered standing to her feet, brushing the baggy pants she was trying to get used to. “I will go out a grab a few things that should help that Zexen doesn't keep stocked within their cold walls.”

 

“You are going to make an herbal mix?” Touya wondered with a cock of his thin, sky-blue brow.

 

“That's not a problem, is it?” She asked, heading for the door. “There is one herbal mix my mother taught me that should help with a sore throat. It works wonders. I promise.”

 

She appeared excited about the idea of creating it, making it difficult for Touya to turn down the thought. Sighing through his nostrils, he nodded at her as he turned his back towards Leola. “Alright, I will wait here then. Just promise me you'll take an umbrella or something with you when you go back outside. I don't need Jin's clothes getting mudded up. He'll kill me.”

 

Leola paused in the doorway hearing about the umbrella Touya wanted her to use. “Umm, what's an umbrella?”

 

Looking over his shoulder, Touya pointed at the umbrella located in the far, right upper corner of the inn room. “Open it up outside and it will shield you from the rain. It will help you greatly,” he explained, coughing into his fist.

 

Hurrying over to the umbrella, Leola grabbed it up to examine it before turning back around to get what she needed for the mix to sooth the ice demon's throat. “Just hold on, demon, I will get your medicine mixed up for you in no time.” The inn room door closed behind her, she quickly tiptoed down the wooden staircase to make it outside in the horrible storm. Eventually figuring out how to open the umbrella she had never used before, she put it over her head to listen to the melodic tapping of the rain as Leola scurried for the exit of the Zexen capital.

 

After awhile of tossing and turning uncomfortably in bed, Touya's body, fed up with the pain, drifted into sleep taking the ice demon back to the years where he used to still live with his demonic clan filled with ice demons—cold and unforgiving like a winter storm from the inside out.

 

Touya remembered walking to the elders that day, his feet crunching the snow with every step he took towards their house covered in ice crystals and layers of the white powder, which constantly fell up north. He moved the hanging flap out of the way to make his way inside of the soft blue and white marble, crafted interior. His body not bothered by the bitter cold, he wore his sleeveless, white shirt with black, baggy pants to the meeting he was called to.

 

“You wanted to see me?” Touya recalled asking the elders, who sat around an icy fire, which glistened off of the crystals that appeared unfazed by the heat that they surrounded.

 

The elder, ice demon lifted his crowned head, allowing his stringy, white hair to cascade further down his back as he gazed deeply into the younger demon's eyes with his own, piercing gaze of ice. His pallid skin was lit by the flickering, blue flames he sat around with the other elders, who were deep within a prayer it appeared. “There is a group of foreign demons moving in towards the south of the Almoon Woodland. The Ice Goddess foretells of their coming here.” The beads decorating his white strands of hair, which rested over his shoulders, ratted slightly against one another as he moved his head once more back down at his intertwined fingers. “We need our warriors to go down to the bridge connecting over the ravine to stop them from crossing over.”

 

“And you want me to go?” Touya asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

Raising his hand, the elder made the blue flame rise to conjure up a picture within the white and blue embers. It was the picture of the ravine the elder spoke of. “Be quit about it, Touya. We are giving you the leadership of this attack. We trust you and your experience.” With a quick motion of his hand to the side, his fingers lied flat; he changed the picture of the fire to that of the redheaded demon he could sense. “This one is their strongest fighter. It would be advised to take him down first.”

 

“Fine,” Touya said unenthusiastically, rubbing the back of his head. “I will go gather up some of the warriors and take these intruders down before nightfall.” He didn't feel that the fight would be much to worry over as he headed for the archway exit.

 

“It is wise to be cautious, Touya,” the elder informed with his head bowed and his eyes closed in mediation again. “To underestimate one's foe is a way to die a foolish death.”

 

Touya shrugged off the advice as he headed back out into the snow covered village to his own home located on the edge of the forest surrounding the clearing the village was built within. Moving the hanging flap out of his way, he made it into his home, heading into the back bedroom where he planned on changing.

 

Grabbing onto the silver, curved handles of his dresser, he pulled the doors open to reveal his ninja attire. The black outfit hanging in the back, he pulled it off of the hook it was hanging on. He grabbed onto the rim of his white shirt he was wearing to pull it off over his head to toss upon his bed. There is no way I will allow these demons to take over our village, he thought angrily to himself as he quickly dressed himself, pulling the black fabric over the slope of his nose.

 

Once he managed to get his weapons together, Touya gathered those he knew would be able to handle being under his command without objection. Leading the warriors to the edge of the ravine, they all ducked into cover and waited for the demon clan to show up on the other side of the bridge. Touya watched the other side of the bridge from the highest branch on one of the towering pine trees surrounding the area. Kneeling upon the thick branch covered in snow, he narrowed his eyes through the heavy snowfall to try and focus on the energy he could just barely feel on the other side.

 

The snow falling from the bushes on the opposite side of the ravine, Touya watched attentively as the demons made their way towards the bridge though apparently doing so cautiously given the energy they must have vaguely felt from the ice demons. Touya knew that if he powered up to attack, it would cause a problem, so he had to wait for the right moment to do so.

 

The wind currents began to get rambunctious, causing the smell of the snow covered pine to waft the ice demons' senses. Nobody stirred from where they lied in wait. Touya kept his narrow eyes upon the middle of the bridge, waiting for the demons to step upon it. Once they were lined within his view, the beginning of the group anyways, he quickly powered up his Ice Shards before releasing them upon the bridge.

 

Sharp, ice shards piercing the air cut through the bridge's ropes, which kept it up. Some of the demons plummeted to their death in the steep ravine below, lined with layers of sharp rocks, which cracked their bones and pierced their demonic bodies. Others, however, used the wind around them to take flight and head towards the energy they caught when the ice demon unleashed his sneak attack.

 

“They're wind demons!” Someone exclaimed underneath the snow covered canopy.

 

“Attack!” Touya demanded regardless, waving forward as he pulled out his sword.

 

The fighting started to wear on Touya's mind as he continued to sleep uncomfortably in the inn. Parts he could remember so clearly while others were as dark as the night sky. He could remember clearly the blood soaking the pure, white snow when both sides suffered from the blows spared. He remembered watching as Jin, covered in the same dark, ninja attire, made his way easily over everyone and headed eagerly for the ice demons' village up ahead.

 

“Oh, no you don't!” Touya growled under his breath as he ran after the wind demon after managing to gut the other demon, who dared to come upon him with his own sword. Pushing the dying creature away from his tainted blade, he ran after the disguised Jin quickly.

 

His narrow, cold eyes the only thing that could be seen in his black attire, he watched the other demon closely from the ground below as the other dark dressed, demon took to the treetops. Both of them reading their weapons, they lunged at one another—making the rest out to be a blur of furious motion.

 

The trees bent and swayed under the wind the other demon was unleashing while the roots froze under the ice demon's lethal, frozen hell attack. Some of the ice broke under the trembling earth of the two as their swords' steel clanked together. In the middle of the battle, Touya grabbed onto one of his smaller daggers to slice across the wind demon's face—just barely missing it.

 

The blue eyes of the wind demon widening at the attack he saw coming, he moved his head slightly to have the sharp, dagger slice through his black, ninja mask he was wearing. Touya's memory recalling how slowly it seemed to happen as the cloth of the demon's facade ripped apart as did a bit of the skin on his cheek.

 

Jin's mask unraveled, he jumped back with a growl at the ice demon as he noticed the small, bleeding cut on his cheek. Digging into his pocket, he released the throwing stars at the ice demon, cutting off Touya's mask in return as well as double cuts parallel to one another on his cheek.

 

“So it is you—the one the elders warned me about!” Touya growled, keeping his sword out and tilted slightly to the side before him. “In order to get into my village, you have to get past me, wind demon!”

 

“If you want to play that way, I will gladly play with you,” Jin answered, grinning ear to ear as he circled the opposing ice demon.

 

Touya coming right at him quickly, Jin was quick to raise his sword to stop the steel from piercing his body. Powering up his wind once more, he attempted to blow the ice demon back from him—the force quite strong.

 

The ice demon was unable to keep his footing any longer. The currents of the icy wind too much for him to handle, he fell backwards, causing his sword to fly out of his hand to bury into the snow covered ground not too far away. He got to his feet quickly, however, once Jin stopped using his wind, and Touya tried to hurry for his sword.

 

Jin was right on the idea with him as he too tried to grab Touya's sword so that his adversary could be unarmed. When the ice demon nearly shot ahead of him, he eyed the sash around Touya's waste and cut it off with his sword before pulling it off with a quick movement of his hand.

 

Feeling his pants about to fall off, Touya stopped quickly in his steps and grabbed onto the edge of his black pants. “HEY, give that back!” He demanded as a blush painted across his face as he knelt there in the snow; Jin now had his sword as well.

 

Jin couldn't help but find it amusing as he kept the demon's sash in one hand and his sword in the other. “Which do you want—the sword or the sash?”

 

“BOTH!” He shouted angrily through his teeth.

 

The sound of the demons making their way towards where the two of them where located could be heard echoing throughout the forest; Jin recognized the foreign energy levels of that of the ice demons and not of those he had been sent with. “This isn't over,” he said, throwing down both the sash and the sword. “I will come back for what I want!”

 

Touya watched as the wind demon quickly vanished, leaving behind the items he wanted. He took the cut sash to retie it about his body to keep his pants from falling again before sheathing his sword with a confused look. “What was he looking for?”