Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Tale of a Theif ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The bright rays of the morning sun hadn’t come soon enough for his liking. Kurama dunked his head into the cold stream and washed his hands of the blood that had stained them. He then proceeded to move further away from the castle, not wanting to find out if the guards had decided to look deeper within the forest. No doubt word had spread across the village that he was a betrayer and was to be killed on sight so going back for supplies was out of the question, on top of that he had no gold on him to spend anyway. How does one go from top to rock bottom in no time flat? It hardly seemed fair.
He traveled at his own leisurely pace, remembering that there was a village not to far from the forests south edge. The sun rays poked through the canopy of leaves above his head, he looked like he’d been tossed to hell hounds no doubt. The flowers practically sang; the plant life was thriving well because of the frequent rain they had been getting as of late.
As the day wore on the mail he wore became heavier and hotter, the sun was very unforgiving. He almost felt like he was in an oven, mail did not breathe well at all. Finally he was left with a choice, either take off the armor or roast like a duck on a spit. Kurama decided to simply take the armor off, word had probably reached the other village anyway. If they saw him in that armor he’d probably be captured and carted off to Lord Korowai before he could even blink. He would rather not take that chance and do with less armor. He quickly peeled off the heavy armor and hid it in a bush deciding it’d do no good to leave it out in the open perchance he was being followed. He also took off his shirt because it bore Lord Korowai’s royal symbol. He felt almost ridiculous, being clad in only a pair of pants. Yes, this was certainly rock bottom and he hated every minute of it.
‘If I ever see Karasu again, I will make him pay,’ he swore to himself as he continued to his destination. His stomach growled in hunger, demanding it be fed, unfortunately he had no food to sate his hunger. He could look for berries or something, but a lot of the wild berries that grew were either poisonous or would bite back. It wasn’t fun to eat something that could bite you, not to mention hard.
The day wore on further, along with his patience. His matted tail swished back and forth irritably, his eyes not betraying the frustration he was feeling. Had he been paying attention he would have noticed the vine tied in a circle, placed right in the middle of his path. However, he wasn’t and ended upside down before he knew what had happened. Two sounds of childish laughter reached him as two small children jumped into sight, obviously pleased with their catch. Kurama, however, was far from pleased.
“We caught you, we caught you!” they repeated in a sing-song chant as they bounced around beneath his head. Kurama crossed his arms and glared down at the two children.
“Cut me down,” he demanded. The two children stopped laughing and bouncing around when they heard the sternness in his tone.
“But we caught you! We have to show our daddy before we can!” the youngest grinned, showing off the fact he had a missing tooth.
“I don’t have time to deal with childish antics, cut me down now!” The older girl, though by a year, sniffled as her eyes watered.
‘Oh no,’ Kurama thought as his eyes hardened knowing what was going to come next. The girl opened her mouth in a loud wail, not happy at all with him.
“You made her cry!” The boy accused and tried to look tough. Kurama didn’t reply, instead flattened his ears to his skull in an attempt to drown out the crying sound. “Good boys aren’t supposed to make girls cry, my daddy said so! That means you’re a mean boy, now say sorry,” the boy demanded.
‘Is he serious?’ Kurama couldn’t help but think. When Kurama didn’t apologize the little boy was obviously displeased.
“Did you hear me?”
“Yes I heard you,” Kurama sighed. “I doubt you’d be acting so tough if I were on the ground, now would you?”
“Yes I would!” The boy said with confidence and crossed his arms.
“Then cut me down and we’ll see.”
“No.” Kurama almost growled in frustration, but kept what little patience he had instead.
“Milana, what is wrong my daughter?” A burly man came into the small clearing with an armful of wood. He was a large man, a few heads taller than Kurama if he had to guess. Despite his rough appearance, he spoke with such softness. His black hair was cut short; his bangs fell into his amethyst eyes. Milana ran over to her father and cried into his leg.
“Our prey made her cry!” the boy cried out. The man put the wood on the ground and walked over to where Kurama hung, still steaming.
“Hm, and why have you made her cry?”
“I simply told them to cut me down,” Kurama huffed.
“No, he yelled it!” The boy corrected. “He wouldn’t apologize to Milana either.”
“I don’t have time for this, cut me down so I may be on my way.” How he hated repeating himself, but these children just weren’t listening. Hopefully, who he assumed to be their father, would cut him down.
“Keep calm, they were simply practicing their hunting skills,” the man said as he proceeded to get Kurama down.
“It was an unneeded inconvenience,” Kurama almost snapped.
“They are children; surely you can forgive them of that.” Kurama didn’t reply, instead waited patiently as the knot was undone. He fell to the ground in an undignified heap causing both children to erupt with laughter. “Where are you off to?”
“The village on the south end of the forests edge,” he replied gruffly.
“You are in luck then, it is not far from here. If you rest the night and awake at first sun, you should be there by ”
“Thank you,” Kurama said and began walking off. Milana whispered something to her father before the man beckoned Kurama to stop.
“Why don’t you stay the night with my family? The forest can be unforgiving at night, especially so near the town. I live not far from here, I go to the town to trade the goods my mate makes. I can take you down in the morning when I go,” the man offered.
“I can not burden you with my presence.”
“It would be no problem, really. We don’t get visitors often and my mate loves to have company over, she would be pleased if you spent the night with us. Do not worry; there will be enough food to go around.” Kurama thought for a moment, the man did look sincere and he could not sense any ill intentions.
“Very well, I thank you for your hospitality.”
“I am Hono Hikari,” the man introduced himself. “This is my son Daike and my daughter Milana.”
“I am…” he paused. He couldn’t very well use his given name, not so close to Lord Korowai’s castle. “…Youko, it is a pleasure to meet you.”
“As is you,” Hono smiled. “Well then, let’s be off!” He gathered the wood in his arms and led the trio to the house; the sweet aroma of salmon was thick in the air as they neared the humble home. “Akai my mate, we have company tonight!” Hono announced as they entered his home.
“We do?” Akai replied, her voice light and pleasant. She came out from her hidden corner to meet their guest. She was small and frail looking compared to Hono, her ears were obviously far from normal. They were an aqua color, looking almost like a fish’s fin. Three pale yellow dots were under each eye giving her an exotic look, her pale pink hair was tied at the base of her neck.
“This is Youko, our guest.”
“It is nice to meet you Youko; I am Akai, mate of Hono.”
“It is a pleasure,” Kurama said. Akai studied him for a moment with an odd look on her face, as if trying to remember if she had seen him before. Kurama’s blood ran cold as he hoped she didn’t recognize him. The look passed, replaced instead with a smile making him want to sigh in relief. She then went to finish cooking the meal, however she was still unsure.
Kurama kept his guard up the rest of the night. Though the talk was light and the company pleasant, he couldn’t bring himself to relax nor did he really try. Right now he was still in danger and wouldn’t relax until he was out of it. They attempted to bring him into conversation, asking him where he was from, what he did for a living, and so on. He avoided each question he thought too confidential with practiced ease and began to ask them questions, if only to keep the spotlight away from him.
The conversation eventually turned to the children, who were more than happy to talk about every little thing they did. They also wasted no time in telling the tale of how they caught their ‘prey’. Akai thought it very amusing, she giggled behind her hand as her eyes sparkled with mirth.
In time the meal was cleaned up and the children sent off to bed. Hono and Kurama sat by the fire as Akai tucked the children in for the night before going to bed herself.
“Have you heard the news from the northern village?” Hono questioned.
“No, I haven’t,” Kurama replied, acting interested. He had a good guess what the news was, he just hoped he was wrong.
“One of the royal guards betrayed them; he killed Lady Mai just last night. There is a reward for his head, the price is unknown, but undoubtedly a hefty price. I assume bounty hunters are going nuts to have this youkai’s head. What’s also is he’s worth more dead than he is alive, believe it or not.” Kurama became very quiet, how he hated being right sometimes. So now there was a bounty on his head, isn’t that just peachy? Damn it all, the next time he runs across Karasu the crow is dead on the spot!
“That’s some news,” Kurama said.