Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Season of the Crystal Feather ❯ The Hellish Clearing of No Return ( Chapter 13 )

The Hellish Clearing of No Return:

That night:

Flash had volunteered to take midnight watch. She was sitting in front of where they had had a campfire earlier and was poking at the ashes. The others had had to fight her in order to put the fire out. She had really wanted to leave it burning. In the end Yusuke poured a bottle of water over her and the flame. He didn't get away uninjured, of course. Currently, he was sleeping face down on the ground where he had fallen since the pain was too much to bear when he moved.

Flash looked around at the others. Tundra was sleeping curled up nearby. Terminator was sleeping on Tundra's back and Freckles was stretched out next to Tundra. Hinote was sleeping on his side, using his bag as a pillow. Hiei was sleeping in a tree. Dariken was curled up on the ground drooling and every so often he would mutter a random food name. Kuwabara was sleeping on his side somewhere away from everyone else. Thorn was sleeping while leaning against a tree with her wings wrapped around herself. Autumn was sleeping soundly with her head on her bag while hugging a small white beanie baby fox that had golden eyes. Kurama was leaning against a tree nearby sleeping. He had positioned himself so that he was between Autumn and the forest in case anything tried to attack, though he had made it seem like his sleeping place was randomly chosen.

Flash sighed and looked up at the moon, "This is just wonderful, I'm stuck here watching everyone sleep and I don't even have a fire to poke. They owe me for this...Hmm...Who is still in possession of their wallet...?"

"Kurama is, but if you disturb his sleep, I'll kill you." Answered Autumn, who was now standing behind Flash.

Flash jumped up, turned to face Autumn, and fell backwards. She hissed lowly so the others wouldn't be disturbed, "DON'T DO THAT!!!"

"Aw, is the wittle kitty frightened?" Hinote, standing behind Flash, mocked.

Flash repeated her action from before. She then stood up and glared at her two laughing friends, "What are you two doing awake, anyway?"

"Well, I just randomly woke up." Autumn nodded.

Hinote shrugged, "Yeah, me too."

"You know, I think we should be more careful. Hiei's very suspicious of us and I'm not sure how long we can keep our secrets secret from him." Autumn pointed at the tree where Hiei was sleeping.

"Actually, he's only really suspicious of you. As long as he's too busy trying to figure out what you're hiding then I'm safe." Hinote nodded.

Autumn hissed at him. Hinote laughed nervously, "I mean...I'll help you get him off your case any way that I can!"

"Good knave." Autumn pat Hinote on the head.

Hinote hissed and glared at Autumn. He grabbed her wrist and moved it away, "Don't come within 5 feet of me."

"Aw, stop being such a grumpy pants Tinkerbell...I mean...Vlad." Autumn laughed nervously and looked around with shifty eyes.

"RARR!!!!" Hinote, who was actually being controlled by his demon half, yelled and pulled out a pocket knife to stab Autumn.

"Hey, an acorn!" Autumn announced as she walked over to where she saw the acorn, causing Vlad to miss and get the knife stuck in the ground.

"DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!!!! Why can't you stay still long enough for me to kill you?!" Vlad yelled.

"Because the authoress loves to make your life a living hell and as long as she's in control, you'll never get what you want." Autumn nodded.

"Would you two shut up?! I don't want the others waking up!!" Flash hissed at Vlad and Autumn.

"But if the others were to wake up then they would want breakfast! That means breakfast would come sooner!!" Hinote said, very excited. He picked up some random pot lids that he found in Thorn's bag and started banging them together, "Wake up! Wake up! Hinote wants his breakfast now!"

Autumn and Flash tackled Hinote to the ground, causing the pot lids to fly out of his hands. One of them landed harmlessly on the ground and the other one flew and smacked Kurama in the head. He immediately woke up and looked around with wide eyes. He rubbed his head and stared at Flash and Autumn, who were lying on top of Hinote. Autumn immediately stood up and rushed over to Kurama.

"Holy hell! Are you hurt?! You're not bleeding, are you? None of your vital organs imploded, did they?!" Autumn asked in a panicked voice while crouched next to Kurama. After literally a second of Kurama not answering, Autumn started panicking more, "Oh my frogs! Your vital organs really did implode!!! Hinote, look what you did!!!"

"It wouldn't have happened if you two hadn't tackled me to the ground!" Hinote protested.

Flash rolled her eyes, "Well, if you hadn't been trying to wake everyone up..."

"Please, stop pointing fingers. I'm alright, just a little surprised." Kurama smiled reassuringly at them.

Autumn threw her arms around Kurama, "YAY! Your organs didn't implode!!!"

"No, I'm happy to say that they didn't" Kurama laughed as he moved an arm around Autumn.

Flash was looking around, "Wow, Hinote, I can't believe you didn't wake anyone up with all the noise you were making."

"So, that's what was making all that noise." Hiei said coldly as he hopped out of the tree Kurama was leaning against. He turned around to face Kurama and arched an eyebrow at seeing Autumn hugging him and Kurama with his arm around her.

Autumn smiled and waved, "Hi, Nomi!"

Flash hit Hinote on the head, "You woke up Hiei! You idiot!"

"Hit him once for the pot lid that hit Kurama." Autumn called.

Kurama shook his head, "No, I'm fine, don't hit him."

Flash hit Hinote on the head again. Hinote hissed and pointed at Kurama while looking at Flash, "He said not to!"

"Yeah, but she told me to, and she's more threatening than Kurama. You never know what she'll do." Flash pointed at Autumn.

"What are all of you doing awake, anyway?" Hiei asked.

"We were holding a secret meeting to plan the most effective ways to kill all of you slowly and painfully." Autumn responded automatically.

Kurama and Hiei stared at her. Autumn smiled sweetly at them and tilted her head to the side, "Something wrong?"

"No, of course not!" Kurama smiled.

Hiei looked at the two of them in a disgusted manner, "Kitsune, we have to talk."

"Huh? Why?" Kurama blinked.

"Gasp! Hiei wants to talk! It's the end of the world!!!" Hinote yelled and pointed at the fire demon while hiding behind Flash.

Hiei glared at Hinote before glaring at Kurama, "Now."

"Alright, Hiei." Kurama sighed and moved his arm from around Autumn. He then stood up and said to the three, "We'll be back soon."

Autumn stood up as she, Flash, and Hinote watched Kurama and Hiei walk towards the forest. Hinote called after them, "Keep your clothes on, you two!"

Autumn and Flash both hit Hinote on the head as Kurama and Hiei turned to glare back at him. The kitsune and the fire demon then turned around and walked into the cover of the trees. They stopped after they had walked a little way into the forest so that they could keep an eye on the others and not be seen or heard. They watched the three psychos settle around the place where the fire had been.

Kurama crossed his arms and leaned back against a tree as he stood looking at Hiei, "What is it that you wish to talk about?"

"You're becoming too attached to that girl, kitsune. We barely know anything about her. It would be wise to use caution." Hiei responded.

Kurama frowned, "Are you suggesting that Autumn might be pretending to be a fan in order to get close to me?"

"Yes." Hiei responded simply.

"You're being too suspicious Hiei. I'll admit we don't know much about her, but I do know that she means us no harm." The redhead pointed out, trying not to lose his temper.

Hiei hissed, "You're being too naïve. For all we know, she could have set up the meeting between us. She could have been setting up a trap for you since we first met and you're walking straight into it like a fool!"

"I've heard enough of your nonsense, Hiei! You have no proof of any of this! Why can't you accept that not everyone is hiding some dark secret or has ulterior motives?! What of Flash? We don't know all that much about her, either, but are you suspicious of her?" Kurama had raised his voice during this outburst. He allowed Hiei a moment to make a response. When none was made, Kurama continued in an angry tone, "I thought you were above such things as having a double standard, but I suppose you're no better than the humans you claim to hate."

Hiei watched as the kitsune turned and walked back to the camp with his hands clenched into fists. Hiei looked at the ground for a moment before hopping into the tree branches to find a place away from the others to spend the rest of the night.

Kurama sighed and rubbed his forehead when he reached the edge of the trees. Getting into an argument with Hiei had been the last thing he'd wanted. He had been frustrated about Youko's constant urgings to question Autumn about Harmony and had snapped when the fire demon had accused Autumn of not being truthful about her intentions. He hadn't wanted to lose his temper, but he had, and now he had to deal with the reality that he may have shattered the fragile friendship he'd developed with the fire demon.

Autumn, Flash, and Hinote looked up and over as Kurama reentered the clearing and walked over to them. Flash looked around, "Where's Hiei?"

"He...went to spend the rest of the night elsewhere..." answered Kurama after a moment's hesitation.

Autumn and Flash exchanged looks. Flash nodded and stood up, "I'm going to be gone for a little while. I'll be back later."

"Be careful." Kurama said as he sat down near Autumn.

"Don't worry about me, Sparky." Flash responded.

Autumn nodded, "Yeah, don't you know that cats have 9 lives?"

"Shut it, mutt!" Flash yelled back at Autumn.

Autumn stuck her tongue out at Flash. Hinote rolled his eyes, "Honestly, you two really need to grow up."

"This coming from the boy that was banging pot lids together in an attempt to wake everyone up so that he could have breakfast early." Autumn pointed out.

Hinote hissed at her. Kurama chuckled, "How can you two be so awake at such an early hour?"

"Well, don't tell anyone, but I have a secret stash of pocky in my backpack for emergencies." Hinote nodded.

Autumn held up the pendant on its chain which was still around her neck, "The shiny-ness makes me hyper."

"So, Kurama, who do you think took the Han-something crystal from Reikai?" Hinote asked.

"The Kisetsu no Hane." Autumn pointed out.

Kurama shook his head, "Koenma didn't tell us anything that could possibly clue us in to the identity of the thief."

"Ok...what do you know about this mountain that we're going to later?" Hinote questioned.

Autumn and Hinote listened carefully as Kurama recounted all he had heard about the mountain. Autumn was thankful to not have Hiei glaring at her or asking her questions about who she was. Kurama was thankful for the distraction from his guilt at having yelled at Hiei. Hinote was thankful for not being ignored...and having pocky! Strawberry pocky!

Elsewhere in the forest:

Flash was walking through the woods looking for Hiei. She was following the scent trail left behind as he had hopped from tree branch to tree branch. It led her to a small pond that was in the middle of a small clearing. The water was still and clearly reflected the sky and the moon upon its smooth surface. Hiei was sitting cross-legged at the edge of the pond. He threw a little pebble into the water angrily. Flash picked up an acorn and threw it at his head as she approached. Hiei growled and turned his head to see who it was with one hand reaching for his katana. Flash smiled and waved before sitting down.

"What happened between you and Kurama?" Flash asked.

"Nothing." Hiei growled as he let his hand fall from his katana and turned his attention back to the pond.

"I know it was something. Kurama seemed really upset and you look ready to kill something. Of course, you always look ready to kill something, but that's what Kuwabara's for, ne?" Flash turned to Hiei to see if her attempt to cheer him up had worked.

Hiei's lip twitched as if he was debating whether to smile or frown. Flash rolled her eyes, leaned over, and pulled Hiei's lips up into a smile. Hiei's eyes widened and he tried to pull her hands away. Flash laughed and let go of him. He glared and moved a few inches away from her.

"What the hell was that?!" Hiei demanded.

Flash grinned, "I was trying to teach you how to smile."

"I don't need you to teach me anything." The fire demon glared at her.

"Not even how to be a good friend?" Flash asked.

Hiei turned away from her, "I don't need friends."

"Everybody needs somebody Hiei, even if it's just somebody to sit in silence with. I can tell that, whether you're willing to admit it to yourself or not, you value Kurama's friendship. So, I'd say you either spend the rest of the mission and the countless missions after in misery or you patch things up with Kurama and only have to suffer the misery caused by Kuwabara's existence." Flash nodded.

Hiei let a very slight smile show itself as he looked at the reflections in the pond. Flash also looked at the pond. The two of them sat in silence for a while. Hiei then looked at Flash out of the corner of his eye.

"What is your friend hiding?" The fire demon asked.

Flash looked at him with wide eyes, "What do you mean?"

"Your friend Autumn, I know you're helping her hide something from the rest of us." Hiei responded, turning to face her.

Flash laughed nervously and stood up, "I should get back to camp now!"

"All of you keep avoiding questions about it. It only makes her more suspicious." Hiei pointed out, also standing up.

"You only need to know that she doesn't mean any harm to anyone." Flash said before turning and walking back into the forest.

Hiei scoffed before hopping into the trees to think about everything that had just happened.

Back at the campsite:

"I'm going to go get firewood and then we'll make a fire!" Hinote announced before getting up and going over to the large pile of twigs that had been made on the other side of the campsite.

Kurama poked absently at the ashes of the fire that had been there before everyone went to sleep. Autumn poked his shoulder, "What did you and Hiei get into a fight about?"

"How did you know we got into a fight?" Kurama looked at her in shock.

Autumn shrugged, "Well, I had my suspicions when you came back without him, looking pretty upset, but I didn't know for sure until you just told me."

"Ah, of course, you tricked me into telling you." Kurama shook his head, disappointed with himself for not realizing earlier.

Autumn smirked. Her smirk then faded to a serious expression, "Why did you two fight?"

Kurama sighed, "He warned me not to get too close to you because he thinks you're hiding some dark secret or something."

"Ha-ha...Why on earth would he think that...?" Autumn laughed nervously.

Kurama shook his head, "Well I sort of snapped at him for it and then stormed off. I think I may have destroyed our friendship..."

"Come on, if you two are really friends then this won't change that. True friendship can't be destroyed so easily. True friends stay friends even after not seeing or hearing from each other for a long time. True friends stay friends even after death." Autumn nodded knowingly.

Kurama smiled slightly as he sat looking at her. After a moment she fidgeted nervously, "What?"

"I have yet to fully understand you. Sometimes you seem like a completely different person..." the redhead responded.

Autumn laughed and handed him a penny. He looked at it and then at her questioningly. She smiled, "Look at the penny. On one side you see a person but on the other side there's a building. They may seem completely different but in reality they're both still the same penny. Plus, Abe lives in the building when he doesn't have to be sitting there on one side of the penny."

Kurama laughed and closed his hand around the penny. Hinote came over, "That's so cheap of you, Autumn. You could've given him something worth more than a penny."

"Hey, that's a lucky penny! I found it on the way to the park with Freckles before I first met Kurama!" Autumn protested.

"Thank you, Autumn. I really appreciate it and the advice." Kurama smiled at her.

Autumn smiled back happily. Flash walked back to the others, "What's everyone so happy for?"

"Kurama's making a fire!" Autumn pointed at Kurama as he arranged the twigs.

"YAY! FIRE!" Flash sat down and waited patiently for the fire.

Yeah right! Let's try that again...

"YAY!!! FIRE!!!!!" Flash sat down and hissed at Kurama, "Fire now, knave!"

"The twigs have to be properly..." Kurama began.

"I don't care! Just make the fire now or else I'll chop off all that precious hair of yours!!" Flash hissed.

Kurama yelped in fear and quickly put a match to the twigs. Flash laughed insanely and started poking the fire.

"Flash, don't do that, it's dangerous." Kurama said.

"Quiet pansy." Flash responded and poked the fire again.

From his perch nearby, Hiei was falling asleep while listening to Kurama's constant protests about Flash poking the fire. Hinote munched on his pocky as he watched and Autumn soon dozed off against Kurama.

The morning (even though, technically it was already morning, just really early):

"Breakfast?" Hinote asked as he peered over Flash's shoulder.

Flash didn't take her eyes from the magazine she was reading. Instead she used the hand that wasn't holding it to pick up her metal pipe and hit Hinote in the face with it. Hinote whimpered and walked over to where Autumn was sitting and watching Yusuke and Kuwabara argue about something. He leaned over next to her.

"Breakfast?" he asked.

Autumn hit him in the face with a rubber chicken from her bag. Hinote whimpered and walked over to Thorn. She was talking to Dariken about something while he stared at her blankly, not understanding a word that she was saying. Hinote stood next to Thorn, "Breakfast?"

Thorn hissed at Hinote, "You made me lose my train of thought!"

"Breakfast?" Hinote asked again.

Thorn glared, "What is with you?"

"Breakfast?" Hinote asked, only this time he had been accompanied by Dariken.

Thorn's eye twitched, "No! Say it with me now, N-O!"

"Break-fast?" Hinote and Dariken were joined by Kuwabara and Yusuke, who had stopped their argument at the mention of food.

"ARGH!" Thorn threw her arms in the air before storming away.

The four hunger driven comrades made their way over to Kurama. The redhead was training with his whip. As the four approached, the whip flew straight towards Dariken. It hit him in the chest, but instead of cutting into him, there was a loud squeak sound, like that of a squeaky toy. Two halves of a stuffed panda toy fell out of Dariken's shirt and landed on the ground with a final squeak. The five boys stared at the panda. Dariken let out a loud sob before falling to his knees.

"NOOOOOOOOO! NOT MR. PANDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY?! WHY MR. PANDA?!" Dariken sobbed.

Kurama called his whip back into a rose and stashed it in his hair. He rubbed the back of his head, "I'm sorry, Dariken...but at least no one was hurt, ne?"

"No one was hurt?! No one was hurt?!? How can you say that when Mr. Panda is lying on the ground in two pieces! There is only supposed to be one piece of panda, not two!" Dariken yelled and pointed at the toy.

"That's how small squeaky panda toys multiply, Dari." Autumn said in a voice that one would use when telling a child a sweet little lie to make them feel better as she walked up to the group.

"Really?" Dariken asked.

Autumn nodded, "Yes. What we have here are two baby pandas."

"You mean...Mr. Panda is a mommy?" Dari asked in a childlike voice.

Autumn scratched her head, "Ignoring the gender confliction in that statement....yes."

"Yaaaayyy!" Dariken grinned and picked up the upper half of Mr. Panda, "Your name is Mr. Panda Hat. And your name..." Dariken picked up the bottom half, "...is Mr. Panda Pants."

Autumn laughed unenthusiastically as she watched Dari get up and skip away happily. In her mind, Harmony was repeating one phrase over and over, 'I am not related to him. I am not related to him. I am not related to him.'

'Harmony is related to that guy?!'Youko exclaimed in shock.

Kurama had to fight a laugh. I suppose that's why she never mentioned that she had a brother.

Hinote, Yusuke, and Kuwabara crowded around Kurama. He blinked nervously at them, "Um...Yes...?"

"Breakfast?" The three asked.

Kurama shook his head, "No, we've wasted enough time already. We already agreed that as soon as Hiei shows up, we're starting back on our quest."

"Breakfast?" The three hungry boys asked more forcefully.

Autumn took a box of pocky out of Hinote's bag, "Guys look!"

The three boys turned, saw the pocky, crowded around her, and started jumping for it as she held it above their heads. "Sit." she commanded.

The boys obediently sat and stared up at her with their tongues hanging out and drooling as they waited for their pocky. Autumn threw the box, "Fetch!"

Hiei was walking into the clearing as a box of pocky flew over and landed a few inches to the side of him. He stared at the box for a moment before being tackled and pushed to the side by three pocky craving boys. As Hiei sat on the ground with a shocked and horrified expression, the three boys attacked each other and tore into the box of pocky. Flash, Autumn, and Kurama ran over to Hiei.

"Are you ok?" Kurama asked and reached out a hand for Hiei.

Hiei stared at Kurama's hand, then at Kurama. Kurama was smiling in a friendly way. Hiei let a slight smile of his own show before taking the kitsune's hand and letting himself be helped to his feet. Autumn and Flash gave each other a high-five, knowing they had helped patch things up between the two. Hiei dusted himself off.

"Those fools never cease to find new ways to prove their stupidity." Hiei growled.

"Look, panda children! There are people playing a game!" Dariken said to the panda toy halves as he walked over to stand near Autumn. He lifted Mr. Panda Pants to his ear, "What's that, Mr. Panda Pants? It looks more like they're fighting? Well, I suppose that's true, but I don't see a reason for them to be fighting...Do you, Mr. Panda Hat?"

Flash, Hiei, Kurama, and Autumn sweat dropped. Flash turned to Dariken, "And you wonder why Harmony denies being related to you."

Dariken got all teary eyed, "Baby sister no love me?"

Autumn's eye started twitching violently, Must not...murder...

'KILL HIM!!!!!!'Harmony screeched.

And give us away?! Autumn retorted.

Flash glanced at Autumn and then hit Dari on the head with her metal pipe. Dariken yelped and glared at Flash, "What was that for?!"

"Hey, if Harmony were here you would be hurt more than that, so be happy." Flash responded.

Dariken scratched his head, "But, baby sister is..."

Before he could finish, Autumn stepped on his foot, hard. Dariken yelped and hopped around holding his foot after dropping the pandas. Autumn laughed and rubbed the back of her head, "Oops...Was that your foot?"

"YES!" Dariken growled and glared at Autumn.

Autumn stuck her tongue out at him. He stuck his tongue out right back, "BABY! BABY! BABY!"

"SHUT UP!!!!!" Autumn yelled as she started chasing Dariken while wielding her rubber chicken threateningly.

Thorn walked over to Kurama as he, Flash, and Hiei watched Autumn chasing Dariken. She blinked, "What's going on?"

"I have no idea." Kurama responded.

Hiei cleared his throat, "We've been sitting in this clearing all day. Can we at least walk to a different clearing just so that it'll feel like we did something productive today?"

And they never set foot outside of the clearing again.

OWARI