Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Symbols of Haven ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

SoH Chapter 2

 

A/N: Jin and Touya finally show up in this chapter, but I can't write an Irish accent very well yet, so I decided not to torture my few readers with bad dialect. Also, Touya comes off as a bit of a jerk in this chapter.

 

Warnings: Kiona's foul mouth, Jodi's foul mouth, implied het, implied alcohol usage, general violence.

 

 

Jodi Miyoshi awoke with a scowl marring her pale face.

The blue eyed bat demon sat up in her bed, which was little more than a pile of blankets, and listened to her second-in-command's shouts from a few tents down from her own.

“The bastards snuck away in the night!” He paused, and the sound of rattling filled the silent morning air. “Damn it! They took most of our supplies with them, too! And all the food! Who the hell was on guard duty last night?”

A softer voice, one she recognized as belonging to the bird demon, Sam, answered in a soothing tone.

“Mitsuko and Kameko were on guard.” He hesitated. “They're gone, too.”

Kiona was silent, but Jodi could nearly feel the kitsune's fury and outrage as he walked toward her tent. He stopped outside the doorway and called out softly, almost as though he was hoping Jodi would still be asleep.

“Jodi? You awake?”

“Come in, Kiona.”

The blue haired demon pulled the tent flap open and sat next to his winged leader.

“Jodi…”

“I know, we've had more members abandon us to run wild in the Ningenkai. Same thing that's been happening for weeks now.”

Kiona smiled forlornly at her and fidgeted with the sleeve of his black shirt. Jodi grimly smiled back.

“Stupid Reikai. They can't even keep the barrier up for more than a few hundred years. Who's left?”

“You, me, Sam, and Eve. Why do we always get stuck with the amateurs?”

Sam was still outside and was looking through the remaining supplies to see what had been taken. Eve, an abnormally cheerful koorime who had followed the band until the koumori felt obligated to let the girl join, was probably still sleeping, undisturbed by the early morning commotion.

Jodi rubbed her temples, trying in vain to ward off the headache she could feel building.

“Kiona, be nice. We'll just have to find more youkai somewhere that don't mind taking orders from a female hanyou and a tailless kitsune.”

The fox grinned, ignoring the implied insult.

“Maybe one day I'll explain how I lost my tail.”

“Maybe one day I'll pretend to listen.”

She leaned back and softly slapped the back of Kiona's head

“I'll get Eve up, and then we can start moving camp and what not. Get out, I need to get dressed.”

Kiona's eyes brightened with a childish glee.

“Can I watch?”

“No. Get out.”

He smirked, laughing to himself as he left her tent.

The koumori tossed the blankets off of her body and began rummaging through an old, battered pack that clearly suffered from a lack of organization. She roughly pulled her long, pale blonde hair into a high ponytail, and slipped on a loose pair of silvery pants and a midnight blue shirt, with long sleeves and slits down the back for her leathery wings. Looking down and still pulling on her boots, she left her tent and nearly crashed into the much taller Sam.

The brown haired bird demon towered over her, and his caramel eyes gazed down at his boss with a dull confusion.

“Miyoshi-san? I'm sure you've heard, but…”

“I've lost more band members. Yeah, I've heard. Is Eve still asleep?”

“Yes, Miyoshi-san.”

“Will you stop calling me that? My name is Jodi. Oh, and start packing your stuff. We're about to leave.”

Sam smiled down at her and continued on his way. Jodi turned in the opposite direction and walked to a dark grey tent that was sheathed in ice. With a booted foot, she broke the ice that had made the tent flaps into a solid wall, then pulled one side open and stood to the side, allowing a blast of freezing air to escape the makeshift home's small confines. Jodi ducked into the tent without noticing the slick ice that coated the ground.

With a yelp and a curse, Jodi slipped on the ice and was thrown to the earth, sliding until her feet hit the edge of Eve's bed. The koumori cursed again and kicked viciously, landing a blow on the koorime's back squarely enough to knock the smaller demon out of her bed. Eve let out a short scream and released her energy in an icy bolt that narrowly missed her leader's head. Realizing her mistake too late, the turquoise haired koorime stared at Jodi, confused by the intrusion so early in the morning and frightened of the stronger youkai's retaliation.

Jodi's eyes narrowed as she struggled to keep her irritation from morphing into anger. She rubbed her temples again, now trying to relieve the pain from her fully-fledged headache.

“Good. Morning. Eve.” She snarled through clenched teeth, keeping her voice low so as not to aggravate the pain resonating through her skull. Eve flinched and dropped her magenta-hued gaze.

“Good morning, Miyoshi-sama.”

Jodi glared. Eve swallowed nervously.

“I-I mean, `Good morning, Jodi.'”

“Get packed. We're leaving in fifteen minutes for a new camping site. When you've got everything packed, meet the rest of us at that big sakura tree to the west of us.”

Without waiting for a response, Jodi lurched to her feet, trying to look dignified as she slipped around on the ice again, and stalked out of the tent, heading back for her own corner of the campsite. Kiona and Sam were already hard at work, filling their own packs with clothing and blankets, and cramming other bags with the few tents and utensils that remained.

Her own tent was loaded up within minutes, and more items were crammed haphazardly into her pack. Jodi shouldered the bulky sack and hefted a bag full of supplies. Kiona was already seated beneath the sakura tree, his own bags scattered at his feet. The slender, black-clad kitsune watched his leader approach, following her every movement with his cloudy blue eyes.

She smiled to herself, thinking of the first time she had laid eyes on the foul-mouthed fox. His smoky eyes had fooled her into believing he was blind, when in fact his eyesight was sharper than her own. He had nearly gotten away with a bag filled to the rim with jewels she had stolen the previous night before she had realized that she was not dealing with a blind beggar.

“What are you smiling about, you evil bitch?”

“Nosy jackass. Can't I take a trip down memory lane with out being interrogated?”

“Nostalgic whore. I bet you were fantasizing about me.”

“What's there to fantasize about?”

The demons grinned at each other, knowing better than to take the insults personally. The other two demons were walking toward the tree, Sam carrying a much heavier burden than Eve. However, before they could quite reach the tree, a voice called out from the forest around the small band.

“Good, they're already packed up and ready to leave!”

“Yuusuke, please. Let me handle this.”

A red-haired young man stepped out from between two large trees.

“I need to speak with the one named Jodi Miyoshi,” he said, his emerald eyes boring into Jodi's.

 

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Rochelle glanced around the darkened forest that surrounded her and realized that she was alone. The voorime stopped on the partially overgrown trail that she and her mate had marched on for the last two days and looked around more closely with her green, cat-like eyes. Still seeing no one, she extended her ki, feeling for the man she had dedicated her life to. When she didn't feel him, she began to panic. Fear for her beloved's life clutched her stomach, sending icy ripples through her body.

“Stratimone!”

Her cry echoed through the deep forest, then faded to an unmerciful silence.

“Stratimone! Where are you?”

/`Here, love.'/

The wolf demon's mind gently touched hers through their bond, and Rochelle blushed with embarrassment that she hadn't thought of searching through their bond before panicking. She turned to face the direction that she felt his affection and amusement emanating from.

/`Where did you go? And why are you in that form? You know I can't sense you when you're like that.'/

Stratimone trotted out of the forest, a large black wolf with a white scar that crossed his face between his gleaming silver eyes. He gently rebuked her.

/`I wanted to check out the area, and nature is always more receptive to me in my wolf form.'/

He rose up on his hind legs and swiftly altered his body to something more human. His hair faded and disappeared except for a thick mane on the top of his head that fell wildly around his face, and the scar vanished entirely. He was thin, but muscular, and easily stood six feet tall. He kissed Rochelle quickly on the cheek, then walked past her, taking the lead. Rochelle shot him a nasty look, put off by his sudden arrogant behavior.

“You know I don't like it when you take off without warning. What if Mukuro is still looking for us? You know she probably is. She's probably got hordes of youkai on the hunt. She isn't the type to forgive and forget.”

“She's most likely too busy keeping the Reikai off her ass to worry too much about a rebel and the assassin that refused to kill his target.”

“And how would you know that? Her heir works for the Reikai. I'd bet she's given Prince Koenma entire legions of youkai.”

The black-and-red haired voorime and her grey-eyed mate jumped in surprise when a tall demon with shaggy red hair appeared out of nowhere on the path ahead of them.

“Well, that's one bet you'd be a fool to make.”

The youkai grinned at the pair, his blue eyes dancing joyously. Behind him, a blue haired demon with mint green bangs and piercing blue eyes leaned casually against a tree, looking off to the side and appearing not to take any notice of his companion or the couple. Stratimone stepped forward, trying to seem menacing and not at all afraid.

“And how would you know? Do you serve Lord Mukuro?”

“Nah, I don't serve anyone except for my own free will. I just keep up on all the current news. Or rather, he does,” the youkai added, motioning to the other demon behind him with his chin. “He just tells me about anything interesting that happens.”

“Who are you?” Rochelle demanded from behind Stratimone.

“My name is Jin, and the anti-social one here is Touya.” Jin grinned at Touya, who continued to ignore them.

“While you're answering questions, may we ask you what you're purpose here is?” Stratimone pursued.

Touya spoke before Jin. “Actually, we are here to collect you.”

“What?”

Jin nodded.

“Yeah, that's right. Koenma wants whichever one of you that's named Stratimone to join the Tantei until the youkai have been driven back to the Makai and the barrier is back up.”

Touya spoke up again, still not looking at the group.

“In exchange for your service, he promises protection from Mukuro and her allies.”

“And how does he plan to do that?” Stratimone asked suspiciously.

Jin stared at Stratimone.

“How're we supposed to know? You'll have to ask Koenma yourself, I suppose.”

“And what about Rochelle?” Stratimone asked, nodding toward the voorime, “I'm not going anywhere without her.”

Touya finally faced the group, his icy blue eyes monitoring the other demons.

“Koenma's request was only for you, Stratimone.”

Jin quickly stepped between Stratimone and Touya.

“I'm sure we can bring the woman. Koenma may be glad about having an extra fighter.”

Touya appraised Jin with a cold stare, but he turned away as though the topic no longer held his interest. In a soft voice that only Jin could hear, Touya muttered, “Fine, but you will be the one to explain to the toddler.”

Jin turned his brilliant smile to Stratimone and Rochelle.

“So, do we have a deal?”

Rochelle smiled back, much to Stratimone's chagrin.

“I'd rather be alive and in Reikai's service than be dead by Mukuro's hand. You bet we have a deal!”

 

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A/N: Next Chapter- Hiei goes in search of the mercenary Joseph at the notorious Head Hunter's Inn and Pub, while Kuwabara begins his own chase of the elusive former detective Keith.