Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Demon Dance ❯ Midnight Run ( Chapter 4 )

The wolf stood in her room, her clothing changed for something waterproof that wouldn't make her hot as she ran. Her "midnight runs" as she called them were just that. She would run through the nearby forest preserve in the dead of night when no one would bother her as she ran. She didn't run as a human though. When she arrived and was out of sight of the road, she would transform into her wolf form, enjoying the illusion of pure freedom from the human world if for but an hour or two.

Her long human strides took her to the usual spot as she let go of her magic to become a true beast. When the magic subsided, she stood carefully on her four legs. She wore the body of a red wolf with the same blood red markings her human body sported. She was a half foot taller then a normal wolf, but that was often over looked by humans as she sped past them. Stretching carefully, she leapt into a run, her paws tearing at the ground beneath her. She sailed over tree roots and dashed around corners as she her body flowed over the ground.

After an hour and a half of pure running, she slowed to a walk at the river that ran through most of the park. She had made a large circle, coming back near where she had entered. Lapping up the cool water, her ears began to twitch all around her for sounds of danger. Even though the park was closed, poachers still came here and their numbers were greatest at the dead of night. After drinking her fill, she raised her fur-covered head, catching a strange sent on the wind. She followed it cautiously, wondering if it was a poacher or a demon. She followed it in silence, the pads of her feet meshing to the ground to prevent any sounds that might give her away.

"I'm telling you Hiei, they are demons, but they have hidden such a fact incredibly well. I almost couldn't sense the wolf demon's power at all. I truly am impressed by such actions." She knew that voice, following it to the source. She came into view, seeing Shuiichi conversing with another person. He spoke to a shorter boy who's black hair stood up on his head. A streak of white broke the ebony mass, as well as a white headband. The dark red eyes made her wonder what sort of power he held, as did the sword as his side. His clothes were all black: boots, cloak with hood, and slacks.

"Come now Kurama. You often keep strange company, but this is going a little too far. They can't be demons. Koenma would have told us so." The short one had a note of steel in his voice, clearly not believing Shuiichi. He glared at Shuiichi before becoming tense and whipping around. "Someone is watching us." He removed his headband, showing a third eye that glowed with demonic energy. Shit. Skyre's panicked thought led her feet to run from them both back to the safe haven of home.

"There!" The mysterious Hiei shouted, pointing right at her fleeing form. "After it!" Both of them charged after her, moving with such speed that she almost was caught before the chase had begun. With a snarl, she snapped at Shuiichi, moving past him in an attempt to escape. He avoided her jaws, leaping into the trees where Hiei already was. "Come back here!" came another bellow from Hiei. A ball of dark fire flew over her shoulder to explode on contact with the ground, blinding her with debris for an instant.

"Rose Whip!" A whip of vines came after her next, the thorns each an inch long as it too made a gash in the forest floor, almost cutting her in two. She dodged, wrenching her back in the process, but ran on, pure fear blocking the pain as pure instinct led her movements. Soon she burst out of the forest preserve, crossing the boundary and running headlong into traffic. She thanks the stars that only a few cars were out tonight, making her escape a bit easier. She danced along the streets, not daring to look back over her shoulder for fear that another fireball or whiplash was not far behind.

After running all over campus, oven doubling back on her path, she arrived at her apartment, climbing in through the open window and staggering to Ifurita's room, not even transforming as she began to drag the sleeping demon right out of bed.

"What? What is so important that you have to wake me up?" She growled, wincing as Skyre nosed a light on.

{:We have trouble.:} she sent telepathically. Only now did she realize that she was bleeding on her shoulder from the fireball, on her back from the whip. She sat down heavily, her entire body shaking from her exertion. {:I don't know who they were exactly. One was Shuiichi, but the other one kept calling him Kurama. The other one was named Hiei.:} She sent a pair of mental pictures to her partner, hopping that they made sense. Ifurita was fully awake now and stared at her, puzzling over the pictures she had been sent.

"This is not good."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Skyre winced again, now back in human form, but still injured. She had been back for a half hour now, with Ifurita treating her wounds as she ate high carbohydrate foods to help restore some of her energy. The gash on her back ran from under her right shoulder blade to the left side of the small of her back. The burn on her shoulder only appeared to be a second degree burn, but still hurt like hell. She was sitting in the bathtub with her knees under her chin, not wearing a stitch as they had used the showed head to clean her off. Clumps of mud, grass, and scabs now clogged the drain as the remaining water flowed out through the blockage.

"I'd say we take you to a doctor, but I know you won't stand for that," Ifurita muttered, pausing to scratch her ears. Such a simple thing helped her to relax and keep still. Ifurita worked quietly, humming an Evanescence song under her breath as she healed her friend. She had put a slave on the laceration along with stitches, and now was covering it with bandages. The entire thing was numb though, thanks to her ice powers. She sat back and sighed, wiping at her forehead with the back of a blood and salve covered hand.

"I'd like to see the weapon that did this to you." She moved to the sink, cleaning her hands with soap and water for a minute before moving on to the burn. A feather touch had the wolf demon baring her teeth in pain. "Sorry. It can't be helped." She touched it again, a bit harder this time as she cleaned it with a piece of gauze that had rubbing alcohol on it. Skyre only clenched her teeth and sent her thoughts elsewhere. Ifurita bent herself with a will, taking up a pair of tweezers to pull away the dead chard skin. The open lesion began to bleed slightly. The ice demon let it, letting most of the bacteria that might be in there flow back out before freezing it to a halt. The feeling of ice brought almost overwhelming relief. The same slave was put on the numb flesh and bandages followed that.

"There. Let me wash out your tail and then I'll get you some loose clothes to sleep in." Hot water began to flow again as soapy hands attacked her tail, washing out the blood that had streamed down her back into the dense fur. The wolf sighed, hugging her knees tighter as the numbness in her body continued. A squeak signaled the end of the water flow. Ifurita stood and marched out, leaving Skyre to try to stand on her own. It was easily done and she soon had a towel wrapper around her slender frame, her tail dripping with water.

Clothes appeared on the counter and the door shut again, leaving her to dress herself. Wincing as the numbness wore off, she pulled on a loose tank top and baggy slacks, pulling her wet tail out of the hole in the back. She shuffled to the kitchen, heading for the medicine cabinet for painkillers so she could sleep. It was almost 2 am. Her midnight run had become a run for her life and chances were they looked for her still, possibly to even kill her.