Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Raiden Youkai no Noroi: Zasshu ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Botan had said that the village was a day's walk from the abandoned City. A sad miscalculation on her part, Kurama thought, struggling to keep up with Hiei as they scaled the large mountain they had come upon an hour earlier. At this rate it would take them three days, and Kurama wasn't entirely sure that even Hiei could go on that long without rest. Yet with no shelter in sight, it seemed as if that was what they had to do. It would be extremely unwise to camp out in the open in the Makai. The Demon Realm's forests weren't like those of Ningenkai, where all you had to worry about was ensuring that the fire was put out, what to do if it rained, and the occasional lunatic. There was that and so much more. In these woods, even the trees themselves were alive.

It was growing dark when they reached the summit. A thick, acrid scent hung in the air, which Kurama immediately identified as sulfur. And sulfur could mean hot springs. And hot springs meant people, namely the people who owned the springs and probably owned a house. And, if these people were hospitable enough, that house could mean shelter.

Kurama was just about to voice this train of logic when a scream cut through the cold air.

---

It was a darkness tinged with red, a dark red stain, she thought as her blue hair spread out over the pool of her own blood. Some strange filter had muffled Rai's outcries, and the pain she had felt only seconds before was gone. It took a moment for the thought to reach her, but when it did, it hit harder than the blow she had taken to the head. She was dying, leaving Rai absolutely defenseless. It had been a cruel joke, she knew, pushing the young lightning demon into the water like that, but it had been in harmless merriment. Now if Rai tried to use her ki against their attacker, she would kill herself in the process as well. Midori had failed her.

Rai did the only thing she could think of. Hauling the taller girl into a grove of bushes and hiding her as best she could under the circumstances, she took off in a sprint, weighted down by her sopping clothes. The crashing trees only told her that her assailant was still following, still hunting her down. Another throat-searing scream escaped as she pitched forward, the ground rushing towards her with astonishing speed, unsure of anything but her pain. The Hunter had thrown his axe at her, and it had embedded itself right between her shoulder blades.

She heard the Hunter breath heavily behind his mask as he approached her, his heavy boots making the dried leaves cry out as the weight ripped them. No finesse, this one... then again, he hadn't needed it to bring down a mizu youkai and her young companion. With a sickening squelch, he pulled his weapon out of Rai's back and- this infuriated her most of all- proceeded to wipe her blood off on her clothing. `Ichiro...'

Why hadn't her brother come? Why hadn't he saved her from this beast? She knew how selfish she was to think this, but she couldn't help it when the Hunter cut her yet again with his sword. Why?

The last thing she saw was a black blur before she succumbed to her own blood-stained nightmare.

---

“Mee...dor...ee...” the girl had murmured as Hiei sheathed his sword. Odd...she seemed to be a youkai, but she dressed in ningen clothing and spoke with a Tokyo accent. Using the tear made by the axe, he ripped off the rest of her shirt, leaving her only in her bra and pants. Luckily for her, the Hunter had missed his intended target- her spine was still intact. She would live if Hiei could stop the bleeding.

Wadding the cloth into a ball, he proceeded to hold the shirt against her wound, taking care not to place too much pressure on it. They were immediately incarnadined, and in some places the fabric was so threadbare that the blood seeped through and continued along its course. Hiei himself almost wanted to cry out for help. He was almost certain she was a demon, but how much and what kind were carefully concealed in a labyrinth that even he was hesitant to travel through. If he was wrong- Enma forbid- and she was a human, any youki he could give would kill her. The same result would occur if she was a hanyou or if her youki was incompatible with his own. What little optimism he had had was gone. The girl was going to die.

Hiei's ears picked up the faint sound of rustling fabric as he turned his head to see the intruder. Not left, not right, his mind registered as he looked around. Not behind him, nor in front of him. That left only one last direction.

Crimson eyes flew toward the sky the instant the pale, ghostly demon dropped from the tree above, burdened by the weight of the blue-haired woman on his back.

“What are you doing?” the stranger's icy voice lashed out. Before Hiei could respond, the stranger shook his head and said, “Never mind that. Put her down.” He gently placed the woman on the ground and reached for the black bandolier that crossed his chest. Approaching Hiei, who had still not followed the unknown demon's order, he pulled out a small vial filled to the brim with a blue, mucilaginous substance from one of the pouches. “Please,” he sighed at the Koorime's defiance, “I need to get this on her wound before the blood begins to clot. It won't work otherwise.” Reluctantly Hiei handed her over, not sure whether or not he could trust the black-clothed youkai.

Instead of watching the youkai administer the gel to the rip in the girl's back, Hiei instead looked to her face. She wasn't beautiful by any means- her complexion was colorless and her eyes seemed to be too large for her face- but still entrancing in her own way. Small, subtle lines around her eyes suggested that she was one who had seen more than she wanted to in her short life. Maybe she was like himself, cynical and jaded. Maybe she had retained her innocence, though it was unlikely.

Suddenly, Hiei's Jagan exploded with pain as images rapidly sped across his mind. A man with white hair killing a sleeping woman. A faceless crowd of youkai bearing torches, screaming at an innocent newborn. Another woman, this one older, murdered in her own bed and the killer himself slayed by a phantom only an instant later. Indescribable pain filled him, and he shouted as he fell to the ground.

Eyes. Clear, gray, emotionless eyes. That was the last thing he saw before everything whirled away into dust.

---

Yes, lots of fainting, and if Hiei was OOC, I apologize. Keeping people in character has never been one of my strong points, but I swear I'm trying.

While I'm at it, I might as well put in a translation for all the Japanese I've used:

Noroi: Curse
Inu: Dog
Youkai: Demon
Koorime: Ice Sprout, the type of demon Hiei and Yukina's mother was
Rai: Lightning
Hanyou: Half-demon
Reikai: Spirit Realm
Makai: Demon Realm
Ningenkai: Human Realm
Ki: Energy
Mizu: Water
Ningen: Human
Youki: Demon Energy
Jagan: Evil Eye

And I also apologize for taking all that time to put out such a short chapter.

I think that's it...

Ja ne-