Friday, April 30, 2004

   Past Collides with Present: Chapter 11 Part 2
*blinks* I said I'd get this out quickly, didn't I? My bad. Finals are coming up, and I've been incredibly busy. Sorry. Anyways, here's the update.

Kage continued downward, furtively pulling a feather out of a wing as he did so. Hiei was ready to block, but Kage swerved and headed for Touya instead. Touya jumped back and brought an ice-covered arm up to block, and Hiei dropped his guard in surprise. /There!/

Kage sent the feather hurtling toward Hiei. It plunged into his right shoulder before Hiei could bring his katana back up. He dropped his weapon, yelling in surprise and pain.

/One down,/ Kage thought. He had pulled away from Touya the instant he had let the feather go, and Touya was using the extra time to form a proper ice sword, knowing he was in big trouble.

* * *

Kurama heard Hiei's cry and whipped his head around to see what was wrong with his friend. Puso took advantage of this momentary lapse in concentration and leapt forward, dagger poised to plunge through Kurama's heart. Jin gave a yelp and sped down to land in between Kurama and Puso. The dagger plunged through his stomach, but unlike Hiei, Jin didn't make a sound. However, Kurama smelled the fresh blood and turned around. His golden eyes grew round with shock as he watched the doppelganger callously pull the dagger out of the Wind Master. Jin dropped to the ground, clutching the wound in his stomach. "I guess I win this time," Puso remarked.

Kurama didn't reply. The youko, unlike Shuichi, had no intentions of dying here, and he knew he had waited long enough. He sent the silent command to bloom and let his death plant say what he felt about Puso's statement.

Puso's mouth dropped open as sudden lines of agony ran through his body. He looked down to see several beautiful flowers bursting out of his chest, then collapsed, dead before he hit the floor.

"I can't believe he was stupid enough to fall for that," Kurama muttered, collapsing to a sitting position. That trick had taken the last of his energy. He looked at Jin. "Are you all right?"

Jin looked up. "Don' worry 'bout me," he said. "I'll be fine."

"Perhaps," said Kage. "But will the human be fine?"

* * *

"Hiei!" Yukina rushed forward as Hiei collapsed. She fell on her knees beside him as he sat up and pulled out the feather. Blood began to gush out, and Yukina put her hand over the wound to start healing it. That's when Hiei noticed her.

"What are you doing here?" he gasped. "Get out; it's too dangerous!"

But it was too late. Kage had seen Yukina, but more importantly, he had seen Shiori. She was still standing by the door, staring at Kurama. She had realized what an awful mistake she had made when she had seen him in his true demon form. The memory of him carrying her through the forest had come rushing back, and she had started to cry. /I was so wrong to believe what those two were saying. Oh, Shuichi, I'm sorry!/ She felt it was too late to make up now. She began to walk toward him.

She didn't notice Kage as he swooped to a point near the wall and picked something up.

Touya did notice, and rushed to take advantage of the fact that Kage was now on the ground, but skidded to a stop when Kage brought up Puso's bow and pointed it at him, an arrow drawn back and ready to fire. Touya cursed his luck and tensed, waiting for the blow.

Instead of letting go, Kage trained the weapon on Shiori. He heard Jin's words to Kurama and smiled. "Perhaps," he called. "But will the human be fine?"

Immediately everyone's attention was drawn to the devil bird and Shiori. Shiori stood frozen, horrified. She had come this close to death only once before, and she hadn't liked it the first time. This time wasn't any better.

"If you truly want her to live, I suggest you rid yourself of your weapon." Kage glanced to
the side. "That goes for you, too, Ice Master."

Kurama and Touya grudgingly did as they were told. Touya's ice sword melted away, and Kurama let his whip change back into a rose before tossing it into a corner. His ears were laid flat against his skull, and he was growling deep in his chest at the threat to his mother. Not that he could do anything about it. He was too weak to try any kind of attack.

Kage immediately switched his target to Kurama and let the arrow fly. As soon as he did, several things happened at once. Jin yelled, Touya gave a shriek of rage, reformed his ice sword in an instant, and jumped forward, skewering Kage straight through the core while he was off guard. Shiori, who had been standing just a few feet from Kurama, threw her battered body into the arrow's path. She gasped as she felt the cruel tip rip through her lung. The force of the arrow carried it through, and its head struck Kurama in the shoulder, though it did little damage to him.

Touya stabbed Kage in the neck, just to make sure he was dead, then turned to see Kurama rip the arrow out of his mother and pull her into his lap. He was rapidly returning to his human form. "Oh, 'Kaasan," he moaned. "Why did you do that?"

But Shiori wasn't answering.

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