Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Winter Murders ❯ What's a Darsteed? ( Chapter 8 )

Winter Murders

"You know, I never liked Yomi before, but now I definitely don't like him," Yusuke muttered. They were approaching the frozen forest fast. The group was feeling the cold already. Yusuke, being the forward thinker he is, had worn just a wind breaker. Hiei still just wore his normal garb. Kuwabara was bundled up like he was going to Antarctica. Death wore what she had, the black cloak and whatever was under it. Kurama was wearing a fur lined leather coat.

"Isn't that thing a bit, um, contradicting?" Yusuke asked Kurama. The kitsune smiled at his friend.

"Not in the least. It's mink, not fox," Kurama replied.

"But still…" Yusuke tried again.

"I wore the furs of the animals I ate before, there's nothing wrong with it," Kurama said. Yusuke cocked an eyebrow.

"Stupid human," Hiei muttered and moved to his kitsune's side. Kurama smiled gently and took his hand.

"We will be approaching a small village soon," Death told them. She strode out in front of the group. Yusuke slowed down to walk beside the lovers.

"What's her problem?" he asked them. Hiei smiled to himself.

"I don't know," he said.

The scenery around this part of the Makai wasn't as interesting as some of the other parts. You cold see the tree line of the forest… but that was about it. In front of them lay a small village consisting of four or five huts and a large stable. To the right was nothing. To the left was nothing. And behind them was… nothing! Actually, it was frosted ground covered in grayish grass. Every once in a while you would see a stray piece of petrified tree, but other than that there was nothing.

Death strode quickly in front of the group. So fast, in fact, that they had to jog just to keep up. They gave up after a while. Genkai said she'd meet them there; she was going to see if she could find them some transportation, so they wouldn't have to walk.

"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts! There they are a standing in a row! Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head!..." Yusuke sang out of tune. Kuwabara started to back him up. Hiei plugged his ears. Kurama sighed. He walked up to Yusuke and clamped a hand over his mouth. He then placed his other hand over Kuwabara's.

"Thank all the gods except her," Hiei muttered.

"Oh my god Becky, look at her butt! It is so big. She looks like one of those rap guys girlfriends. But who understands those rap guys. They only talk to her because she looks like a total prostitute. Ok. I mean, her butt, it's just so big, I just can't believe it's so round, it's like out there. I mean, gross. Look! She's just so… blah!" Kurama said in his most typical blonde voice. Yusuke and Kuwabara laughed. Hiei cocked an eyebrow.

"I like big butts!..." the three of them started singing. They were bouncing to the invisible beat. Pointing to each other, somewhat dancing. Hiei slowly backed away from them. The three of them were psycho.

"… I wanna…" Kurama sang. Yusuke moaned. "To the break of dawn!..."

Hiei cocked an eyebrow. Kuwabara was now laughing uncontrollably at the other two. Hiei moved a bit closer, now intrigued.

"… My anaconda don't want none unless you…" Kurama sang. Yusuke joined in. Hiei snuck up to his kitsune, planning to put his hand over his fox's mouth. Kurama whirled to face him and tackled him to the ground. Yusuke broke out laughing. They had reached the end of the song.

"Little in the middle but ya got much back…" Kurama sang. Hiei turned a deep shade of red. The surrounding area for about a twenty yard radius melted for the first time in centuries. Kurama placed a kiss on Hiei's mouth. Yusuke and Kuwabara fell to the ground.

"Yusuke?" Kurama asked. Yusuke wasn't laughing. The ground shook. Kuwabara's face went white. Yusuke looked in the direction his friend was looking and paled. Kurama helped Hiei to his feet. They looked out to the town.

A giant beast of black was charging towards them. It was a huge, snorting brute. As black as evil, its slitted eyes glowed red. Hot, acidic saliva dripped off its fangs to hiss upon the icy ground. It was at least 17 feet high, measuring 36 feet in length, 12 of those feet being its tail and 7 being its neck. It was at least 5 feet wide. Its entire body was made of muscle. It had skin that looked like leather, but wasn't. It was wrinkled and showed the veins that underlined the flesh of this gigantic beast. Flames were shooting out of its nose. It roared in fury as it swerved to the right, but immediately turned back to heading towards the group. There were spikes at the end of its tail, and on the back of its knees. It had six horns on its head, four small and two large. Its lower jaw stuck out before the upper. It had many, small, sharp, pointed teeth. It had a bit of a beard on its chin. Its legs were powerful, with three toed feet. In the path behind the beast was a deep trench.

"Yusuke? ..." Kuwa managed to ask. Yusuke looked at Kuwa, Hiei and Kurama. They were already ready for battle. Hiei was standing in front of Kurama, who was gently pushing him to the side, and Kuwa had his spirit sword drawn and ready.

The beast was getting closer, the ground shaking with the force of its bounding. Hiei noticed the dwarf of a rider on its back, black reigns held tightly in its hands. It was wearing a pink cape. Hiei put away his sword and nudged Kurama, encouraging him to do the same. Kurama squinted and looked more closely at the beast. He smiled slightly and put his rose in Hiei's hair. Hiei glared up at him.

"Yusuke," Kurama began. "It's just Genkai."

Yusuke stared at the fox. Hiei nodded. Kuwa shrugged and his sword disappeared. Yusuke looked at the beast. Indeed it looked like Genkai on its back…

"Yusuke you imbecile!" the rider shouted at the stunned spirit detective. Yusuke sighed and rolled his eyes, it was definitely Genkai. "I told you to hurry! Death is already to go! Where were you, you ingrate?!"

Yusuke twitched a bit.

"I'm sorry that we don't walk as fast as super woman you old hag! We're walking as fast as we care to walk! Bugger off!" Yusuke shouted back. Genkai pulled at the reigns of the beast. It skidded a good ten feet to stop centimeters from Yusuke's face. Acidic saliva dripped on Yusuke's shoes. He yelped as it melted through the cloth and burned a hole through his foot.

"What is this manner of beast?" Kurama asked Genkai. Genkai dropped off the beast to land on the ground.

"It's called a darsteed," Genkai replied. The beast ran off in an eastwardly direction. The group watched as it galloped off.

"A darsteed?" Kuwa asked. He looked thoroughly confused. Hiei turned to the idiot.

"It's a creature of legend here in the Makai," Hiei said. He turned to Genkai. "They are rumored to be only controllable by mind."

"It's quite true. If you have a strong mind, you will be able to impose your will upon the beast. If you don't, you'll be dinner," Genkai told them. Hiei nodded. Kurama stared off in the direction the darsteed had gone. Kuwa just stared into space.

"Let's go," Yusuke said. "I'm cold."

The group came back to their senses and began walking towards the village.

"What about the darsteed?" Kurama asked. Genkai smiled knowingly at him.

"It will go back to the stable, it's the only place around for miles that has food," the psychic replied. Kurama nodded. Hiei took his hand. Kurama smiled at his fire demon.

// Hiei banged his head against the tree. He hated life. It was a bleak existence. Why did he keep on living anyway? Kurama no longer loved him, nor did he even care about the half-koorime anymore. Why did Hiei keep going?

Hiei looked about his surroundings. He remembered a time when Kurama and he used to make love beneath these very trees. In that field. Over there. Even in the room he lay in every night, trying to sleep, but never falling under. Hiei had loved Kurama for so long. He had wanted to be with him for even longer. Hiei couldn't figure out why it had happened. Why had his kitsune left for that bitch? The mind control had nothing to do with it. Kurama had begun to distance himself from Hiei long before that. Was Hiei incapable of having love? //

Kurama shuddered at the memory of Hiei's nightmare. It had been horrible to witness, especially for him. He hadn't known just how much Death wanted them apart; he didn't even know that she had wanted them apart. He was acutely aware of how much he meant to Hiei, but he had never known to what extent he had mattered. He glanced down at the demon walking beside him. How much Hiei meant to him.

// "Wake up," he heard Kurama say. Hiei looked up to his lover. Kurama threw Hiei's clothes at him. Death was standing in the doorway. "Get out."

Hiei blinked. Kurama repeated what he had said. Hiei gingerly put on his clothes. Kurama threw a small package at him. Hiei caught it.

"Take your worthless tears with you," Kurama spat. Hiei barely kept back the tears. He jumped out of the window. //

Kurama shuddered again. Hiei looked up at him, concerned for his kit. Kurama was lost in a deep reverie. Hiei sighed. He wouldn't get noticed for awhile, Kurama never noticed him when he was in deep thought…

Kurama couldn't figure out why Death wanted them apart. Did he know her from the past? Was he somehow connected to her? He looked at the love of his life. Hiei wasn't the happiest of creatures at the moment. Kurama wondered why.

Yusuke couldn't help himself. He formed the small amount of snow into a ball. A smirk spread over his face, contorting it into a look of evil, not pure evil, but evil nonetheless. He looked at the miserable demon by Kurama's side. Hiei was probably brooding over the fact that Kurama was thinking, and not paying attention to the fire demon. But Hiei would get a surprise when the snowball hit him in the back of the head… Yusuke heaved the snowball at the daydreaming demon.

Hiei's head snapped forward with astonishing violence. He heard Yusuke break out in laughter. Kurama glanced knowingly at him. A truly evil grin spread across Hiei's face. Kurama's mouth twitched as he repressed a smile. Hiei bit his inner lip and was gone. Kurama kept walking. Genkai strode to walk beside him. She winked. Kurama's face lit up knowingly as she passed him a snowball.

Yusuke and Kuwa were enjoying the snowball Yusuke had thrown at Hiei. Well, they were at least enjoying Hiei's reaction. A tap on the shoulder and both of them knew that now was the time to run for their lives.

Hiei didn't even bother chasing after Yusuke and Kuwa. Genkai tripped up Kuwa, and Kurama grabbed Yusuke. Hiei enjoyed the look on Yusuke's face as Kurama pinned him to the ground. Hiei strode up to the spirit detective and smile sweet revenge to him.

~*~*

Yusuke mumbled something about ungrateful demons as he entered the stable. He was faced with five darsteeds. Yusuke gulped. One had golden saddle gear, another blue, a green one, a black, and one pink. He guessed the pink one was for Kurama. Kuwa came in and began walking towards the darsteed with green saddle gear. Yusuke walked up to the one with blue. Genkai went to the one with pink, Kurama and Hiei made their way over to the one with gold. Death appeared atop the one with black saddle gear.

"We've no time to lose," she spoke. "Let's go."

Yusuke followed Death out. He was followed by Kuwa, who was followed by Genkai, who was followed by Hiei and Kurama.

Death's path to the forest was clear, not like it would have been obstructed considering the terrain. She cut straight across the barren wasteland of the frozen tundra, to the frozen forest. They reached the said woodlands in minutes flat.

The trees looked like trees. Kuwa stuck out his tongue at one point and decided to lick one… It took them five minutes to get him unstuck, only because that was how long it took Kurama to convince Hiei to help.

The trees were right in the middle of their `summer' stage. They were in full bloom. Green leaves were all over the place. They contrasted with the brown of their bark. Some leaves littered the ground, as well as some branches and twigs. Occasionally, one would see grass peeping through the ice covering the forest floor. Kurama marveled at the stunning realism of the forest. He wondered why Yomi had never taken him here…

Hiei sighed as the darsteed repeated the phrase food/food/food in his mind. It wasn't hard to control one of these things, but two was another matter. He had to help Yusuke control his. At first he expected to have to help Kuwa, but he seemed to be having a rather easy time controlling the vicious beast. Yusuke, on the other hand, was having all sorts of problems. So Hiei was recruited in helping him. He sighed.

They stopped for lunch at about noon. It had been such an uneventful day that some of the group took a nap, namely Yusuke and Kuwa. Genkai kicked Yusuke a few times and then shrugged. Kurama sat down and pulled Hiei into his lap. Death sat away from them.

"How much longer until we reach this castle?" Genkai inquired. Death turned her head to the psychic.

"At our pace, about two days. Which is quite fast," she replied. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to follow suit and take a nap."

Genkai nodded. She waited until she was absolutely sure that the demoness was deeply asleep before speaking.

"What do you two think of her?" she asked. Kurama and Hiei shared a knowing glance.

"We don't trust her," Hiei said. Kurama nodded.

"We believe she is trying to force us apart," Kurama said. He hugged Hiei tighter. Hiei blinked in surprise. "She gave Hiei the most awful nightmare…"

Genkai nodded. "Yusuke and I had our suspicions about her, but they aren't the same as yours."

Hiei nodded. He looked out into the forest; it was such a quiet day…

A shriek, not unlike that of banshees, echoed in the noon day. Death stared awake.

"Damn," she muttered and pulled out her sword. Hiei and Genkai marveled at the thinness of it, and the color. "We've got company."

Genkai kicked Kuwa and Yusuke into wakefulness. They both drew their weapons, as did Kurama and Hiei. Death crouched down onto the ground.

A bright light advanced towards the team. Trees five feet from them began to melt, and then a flying horse appeared and flew overhead.

It wasn't your typical horse, mind you. This horse was made of fire. It was red and golden fire for its body, but its mane and tail were a dazzling blue. Underneath the flames, was a blackened body. Instead of hooves, this creature had claws, like those of a bird. It had carnivorous teeth, which snapped at Hiei's head as it passed over a second time. Its wings were like those of an angel. They were the purest of white.

"What is that thing?!" Yusuke shouted at Death.

"A firemare!" she answered. She ducked down, noticing for the first time the rider on the firemare's back. "They have riders! Be on guard!"

Hiei studied the said riders. They were about his size. They had black, rubbery looking skin. They wore green riding pants and cloaks. The bottoms of its pants were stuffed in white boots. Its short stubby fingers held onto the reigns. Its arms were long and thin, as compared to its short thick legs. It swung a curved sword at Yusuke.

"There are more coming!" Kurama shouted at his teammates. "There are about three more!"

Hiei growled. Yusuke shot the first one out of the sky. The rider fell and charged at Kuwa, who sliced it in half. The three remaining firemares split up. One attacked Yusuke and Kuwa, one attacked Death and Genkai, and one attacked Kurama and Hiei.

Genkai ducked as the firemare charged at her head. She felt its hooves dig into her cloak and she was lifted from the ground. Death swore and pulled out a bow a quiver. She put a black arrow to the string and brought it back, aiming for the mare's head. She shot the arrow. The mare cried out and plummeted to the ground, dropping it's burden. Genkai fell.

"Genkai!" Yusuke cried out and rushed over to catch his mentor. Death smirked.

"Urameshi!" Kuwa cried out as both mare and rider assaulted him. Even Kuwa's dumb luck couldn't save him from this.

"Damn!" Hiei cursed. He started heading off in Kuwa's direction, but Kurama held him back. Kurama smiled at him sadly and ran off to help Kuwa. Hiei cursed silently. He felt the black blade of his opponent scrape across his back, none to nicely. Hiei swore. The mare kicked him in the face.

Yusuke shot the rider of the mare that had just fallen. He coddled Genkai's head as he pondered over her wounds: burns.

Kurama tied down the bound mare. Kuwa finished off the dying rider. Kurama looked over to Hiei to see how he had done, he was gone.

"Hiei!" Kurama cried out. His heart stopped beating in his chest. Kurama rushed over to where his beloved had been. No sign of him. Kurama felt tears fall down his face as he examined the ground for some sort of clue. He found none. The darsteeds were long gone, as was the last firemare… and Death.

"HIEI!!!!!" Kurama screamed to the heavens.

Notes: so very sorry for the extremely slow update. I was kind of busy, and I was having a hard time describing the darsteed. It's hard to describe something you didn't come up with yourself. The darsteed originated from Deborah Chester's series `The Sword, the Ring, and the Chalice.' It's a very good series… This chapter wasn't going to end this way, but it did. 0.0 Oh well. It works. Hope you guys liked it. Please review!