Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Strange and Unexpected Beginnings ❯ Encounter ( Chapter 3 )

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

Wow, Chapter 3 already! This story's really coming along! I hope I make it to the end of the fic, though…

Random” dialogue

` Random' thoughts Random emphasis

() () (): Denotes scene and/or time change

Vocabulary Corner: (Pay attention, children!)

Kitsune: Fox

Youkai: Just demon pretty much in this case

Sweatdrop: (Yes, there are some readers that are unfamiliar with this!) A large tear-shaped drop that appears on the back of characters heads; denotes embarrassment.

Suffix “Chan”: Used at the end of one's name; a term of affection for girls or crushes

Suffix “ Kun”: Same as Chan except for Males

Previously:

“I don't think so, small one. You are a wanted criminal. You're the kit that's been stealing from all these idiots. Rumor has it that it was merely food, but I don't care. I think all criminals should be incapacitated. And by incapacitated, I mean die. Besides, I'm having a bad day; and your blood might make me feel better, small one, so don't take it personally.”

` Something's wrong, I can feel it ...'

Kurama had never experienced this kind of feeling before; a heavy feeling at the bottom of his stomach that wouldn't go away. He tuned into Kuronue's badgering.

“Good to see you're still here with us. We're going on, right?”

“Of course.”

“Something wrong?”

“It's nothing. Let's go.”

Chapter 3: Encounter

Kitoru's swung the thick metal chains in the air; faster and faster they twirled about in his hand. Natsumi could hear the rush of air coming from this action. Finally Kitoru lashed out; the chains hit the spaces within inches of her. Natsumi leaped and dodged these, barely escaping the assault. The hunter's chains cracked the wall that she had been leaning against.

“ Not bad, little one,” he commented, pulled the chains out from the rocky surface. They landed on the ground before him.

“Still, you'll make this easier on yourself if you just give in.”

In an instant he disappeared, reappearing behind Natsumi. Seizing the dagger and thrusting it forward, Natsumi met her attacker, only to nick his clothing. A brutal kick to the stomach sent her flying. With a sickening smack, the kit landed further down the mountain, where she lied still for several moments. The snow sported an unpleasant shade of crimson after Natsumi's impact.

“Nnnhhh...” The kit moaned, holding her head, feeling a strange liquid
piling up in her hands. The world seemed to be spinning, and her head hurt; a lot. This bastard would pay.

The man grinned, moving to strike his prey again. What fun; and he was getting a monetary reward for this? Ah, the child had spirit; after that blow he was sure she'd be dead. He watches as she struggled to stand. Oh well, it all the more fun for him.

Natsumi snarled. This time he would die. Mustering up her strength, she leaped into the air, taking an offensive position from above. She aimed a punch at the cocky hunter.

“Yaaaaaaaaahh!”

So close to breaking his stupid nose, she could almost taste his blood. All of a sudden, she found that couldn't move. The hunter had captured her fist in his own freezing hand, making sure to crush her fingers.

Natsumi bit her lip fiercely, trying her best not to give him Kitoru the satisfaction of screaming.

There was a horrible crack, and Natsumi's arm snapped.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Her jaw cracked as his fist connected with her already bloody face. She once again met the rocky surface of the mountain, sliding a little ways.

“What a shame. Weak as a kitten after all.” This was a truly enjoyable affair. He was feeling better already.

() () ()

“Hah! We lost them! Dumb asses!”

“Damn straight! Of course we got away, we're the greatest bandits of all time!”

“Let's booze it up to commemorate our success!”

“Idiots,” Kuronue grumbled. And just who did they think got them out of that mess?

“Those bums... hmm?”

He turned to talk to his partner, but saw nothing. That's when Kuronue saw he had fallen behind somewhat. The silver kitsune was frozen in place with that same spaced out look in his eyes.

Youko frowned. What the hell was going on? Why was he seeing this?

“What the hell's happened to her...?”

“What? What in God's name are you whispering about...?”

But the chimera's inquisition was ignored. Youko saw blood. It was everywhere, and he could hear someone's screams. And laughter...

() () ()

She could barely move, if at all now. The cold worsened, although it hardly did anything to numb the pain. Kitoru hovered near her, amused at her predicament. ”

This was the end, but oh how he hesitated to conclude his `recreational activity', as humans might put it. There was a pool of blood beneath Natsumi. He knew she was immobilized; he'd taken the liberty of breaking her left leg and severely bruising the other.

“Damn...”

The pain was so unbearable she could no longer hold back her `weakness.' .

She coughed up what seemed like a gallon of blood.

“.......”

She glared at up at her executioner. With every footstep he made, she tried harder to pull herself up, but it was no use. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her side. What she saw made her tremble uncontrollably. She thought she had felt something there before, but was too busy fighting `him' off. It was her very own dagger embedded in her side, causing the pool of blood to spread over the snow. She coughed up more blood. Finally, `he' was upon her. She closed her eyes, after using the last of her strength trying to get out of his grip, a futile effort. Maybe it would go quickly. He walked toward the edge of the ledge, which was, despite the height she had fallen, still a large distance from the ground. With one hard thrust, he tossed the terrified kit's body down it, nearly having his fill.

Natsumi couldn't longer move; there was nothing to do except scream. There was a trail of the crimson fluid coming from where she started to fall down the mountain. She was shaking harder than ever, tears streaming down her face. She was going to die.

“What's the matter small one…? In pain?”

This was simply too fun for Kitoru. But alas, he grew somewhat weary of the kit's weakness.

“Shall I end it for you then...?”

He licked the spilt blood from his chains, pressing his boot into her skull.

“Hmm. How should I finish this...?”

Finally deciding on the use of his heaviest chains, he swung them around his head, eager for the end.

“ I do love my chains…” He smiled, a twisted expression of pleasure. He stepped closer, prepared to cut into Natsumi.

Before he could get the chains to connect with their target however, a foreign object from out of nowhere sliced his arm clean off. He dropped the weapons.

“What the hell?”

He cursed, trying to apply pressure to his mutilated arm. But the blood flow continued. Looking around for the person who dared to attack him, his eyes met a pair of blank golden orbs.

“It's you again...Youko.” He scowled.

“Long time no see, Kitoru.” The kitsune acknowledged him coldly. “It's been awhile since I've found something this hideous in my territory.”

“Shut up! I won't be spoken to like that, especially not by some second-rate dog, some worthless fool who's proud of stealing. And it's a fool who's not nearly as great as he says he is. It's only natural I should put you out of your delusions, correct? ”

Just his luck, the bastard came to him; no way would he pass up this opportunity. This was the day he'd finally be able to piss on his corpse.

“Forgive my ignorance,” Kurama started. “I suppose beating up on a kit qualifies you as an excellent bounty hunter. I suppose you've caught so many that you have to go after the small ones.” He smirked. “Good job.” His ears picked up some muffled whimpers. He could sense the kit; what little youki she had seemed much fainter than when they had first met.

` She must be pretty bad.'

He made a move to walk over to her, but was stopped by the infuriated Kitoru.

“Not so fast! After I'm finished with you, that little bitch is next!”

With that said he made haste to slaughter his opponent. However, Youko made no attempt to jump out of the way. Less than a minute later Kitoru found himself on the ground with a broken nose.

“You miserable son of a bitch...” Kitoru growled, holding his nose. Turning to face his adversary, he was greeted by two swift kicks; one to his lower abdomen, the other to his face. Several teeth sprinkled the ground. Kitoru put his hand to his mouth and felt blood, seeping through his fingers as well as from his lungs.

Kurama laughed, a far more derisive tone now

“Well, this is a disappointment, as always. You're even more worthless than I thought. Though, you must have had something that's been keeping your sorry skin alive, after all the times we've met. I neither know, nor care what that was. You've been a waste of my time.”

Kitoru had had enough of this. Drawing two silver-bladed daggers from his waist, he prepared to strike once again. Youko appeared to be enjoying himself as he avoided Kitoru's frantic lashes with little effort. He had to end this now though. He grabbed Kitoru's remaining wrist.

“As much as I've enjoyed this, I have other plans.”

With this, he thrust his arm through Kitoru's stomach, making sure it was as painful as possible for the hunter. Tearing through the man's tissues, Kurama took great care in planting his seed. The filth of Kitoru's blood and intestines spattered the youko's clothing, but it was ignored for now.

“Bastard... It won't last, you know... “Kitoru gasped. “I look forward...to the day...when I see you in hell.”

And with that, his body exploded in a thick gush of tissue, marrow, blood and organ, scattered everywhere within a 30-foot radius. There was nothing left of his head except for tiny bits of skull and the occasional brain particle. In place of the hunter was one of the thief's infamous flesh-eating plants, which seemed to be enjoying it's meal.

“Damn.”

Youko saw that he was covered in the blood of his nemesis. Even his hair was drenched in remains.

“The kit had better be alive for this...” he threatened, extracting a small chunk of brain from his hair. He hurriedly walked down the mountain, in search of Natsumi, following the rapidly drying blood trail. He found her lying in the snow, barely breathing, and covered in blood from head to toe. As he reached her, he gently sat her up and surveyed the damage.

` Hmm...the little spitfire's seems to have taken almost every kind of wound.'

Natsumi's eyes opened, taking in the sight around her, finally resting on Youko. She tried to muster up the energy to fight him off, but found herself too incapacitated to do so.

“W- What... do y-y- you w- want...?”

Whimpering, she turned away, tears beginning to fall down her stained face. All of a sudden, she felt herself pressed against a warm chest, with someone's hand gently supporting her head.

“Don't speak, little one. You've lost too much blood; you need help.”

She felt him lifting her up, ever so delicately. Tremendous pain seared in her legs; she cried harder.

“Your leg... it's badly broken.”

He held her as close as possible without hurting her anymore, lying his head on hers and shielding her face from the cold.

“It's okay... he's dead. I won't hurt you.”

Kurama stroked her head gently. She buried her head in his chest and began to wail.

“ I know, I know...just hold on.”

`Damn it!'

He neglected to take notice of the dagger in her side.

“This is going to hurt for a split second, but I'll do it as quickly as possible.”

Before Natsumi could protest, he pulled on the dagger; it took several tries as it was stubbornly embedded in her hip and the blood made it hard to grip the weapon. Finally, with a sickening squelching sound it emerged. Youko tosses this aside.

“Nnnnhhh!”

“Hold on.” He tore the cloth from his outfit and wrapped it around the wound. There were bloody prints from his hands.

“That should hold for the moment. But it won't last for long.”

The kit stared; she wasn't sure what to think of all this, so she remained silent. Youko He found that she felt absolutely frigid, almost death-like. He gently lay her on the ground once more and hastily walked back up the mountain. He returned with the late Kitoru's cloak, bundling Natsumi up tightly. Gingerly he lifted her up, and dashed down the mountain,. Natsumi still curled up against his chest. Taking on last look at her captor, she fell unconscious.

Well, that's it for Chapter 3! I know it's a bit shorter, but I was trying to make this chapter seem as appealing to you guys as the first two. And that fight scene was hard to type, but I hope I didn't scare anyone away. I don't believe in `sugarcoating' my writing; I hate that concept. Well, I really hope that someone reviews this time…