PURPLE

Part 3: Black on silver
By: Cricket

   Hiei took a deep breath, listening to the wind whisper through his hair to
gently caress his ears.  Along with it, he heard the scream ... felt the pain...
could hear Kurama being brutalized just beyond.  He listened to it carefully, the
red eyes growing colder and more deadly as the seconds ticked by.  
   Yusuke huffed, adjusting the neck of his shirt beside him a bit nervously. 
"Well, let's get this over with!  I'm sure the sooner we get to the yosei city ...
the quicker we can all get the hell out of here!"  He reached over and locked a
hand gently around Keiko's wrist.  "Keiko ... we're a team."
   Hiei stepped quickly forward aside of Yukina, glaring Kuwabara down. 
"Yukina's with me," he growled lowly.  Kuwabara let out a surprised squeal,
stumbling back.
   Yukina smiled sweetly at Hiei's side.
   Shizuru snorted, taking a long pull from her cigarette.  "Come on Kazuma ..."
she spoke, smoke escaping from around the cigarette as she grabbed her
younger brother by the shirt sleeve and pulled him along.
   Yo-mawari watched as the group began to split up ... he turned black-onyx
eyes to Botan and winked.  "Looks like it's you and me."

   Kagayaku stumbled off the bed, tossing the bamboo thatch to the floor
roughly.  Red spots spattered her white gown ... blood.  She cursed heavily
under her breath, whirling to pound a fist on the water basin stand.  "You just
won't give up will you?"  She reached into the water basin and rinsed the
spatters of blood off of her hands.  "I tell you, Kurama-san ... you would go
through a lot less pain if you just GIVE IN!!"  She dipped a pitcher into the
basin and filled it with the cool, clear water.  "But no ... you had to make it hard
on yourself!"  She flowed quietly across the room back to the bed and tossed
the water on the figure.
    The water hit Kurama's beaten body in a sudden, numbing rush, slightly
easing his pain ... his chest laid riddled in a great cross-hatch work of red and
bleeding whip marks.  He laid perfectly still ... shuddering.  His chest felt like a
cheese grater had been taken to him over and over again, mercilessly tearing
into his body and soul.  The water flushed the wounds clean to pour off his
chest to soak the white sheets with a diluted red, surrounding him in an aura of
soft-crimson.
   Kagayaku smiled, crawling back up on the bed, watching with seductive
malice as Kurama winced, the bed wiggling, stretching his wounds.  The yosei
sighed and waved a hand ... Kurama's wards released.
   Nothing else controlled his mind.  His you-ki flowed back to him, immediately
going to work on his wounds.  He laid perfectly still, watching with careful,
heavy-lidded eyes as the yosei knelt beside him.
    
   The sheet fluttered down to lay gently over Koenma's body, sticking to his
sweat-beaded skin.  He shuttered violently feeling it touch his skin, his entire
human form cringing under the almost non-existent presence.
   Murasaki smiled, sitting leisurely beside the bed, taking a drink of water,
smiling at the warded figure on the bed.  "Come come now, Koenma-sama ...
don't tell me you didn't enjoy that?"  She took another long drink and sat back
in the chair.
  Something halfway between a deep-throated growl and a groan came from
under the sheet, the white surface shifting slightly, wiggling.   "Maybe for
you..."
   "Oh, you poor, spoiled child."  Murasaki chuckled into her glass, listening to
her light voice echo in the small glass.  "So.. how can I make this MORE
enjoyable?"
   "Hm.. let's see..." Koenma added smugly, snorting in his high-pitched air
afterwards.  "For starters... you could untie me!"
   "Done."
   The sheet heaved into the air as Koenma lowered his arms from where they
had been tied on the headboard, flipping the sheet down from his head.  He
wiped a hand across his forehead, surveying the room slightly before setting
thin, brown eyes on the purple-haired figure in the chair.
   She smiled back softly, swirling the ice in the glass.  There was something
oddly malicious in that sweet smile, Koenma could pick it out easily, pinning it
down with the narrow glare.  
   'I'm not getting anywhere if I don't play along here,' he though quietly to
himself, circling a nonchalant look about the room.  "So..." he spoke up
suddenly, trying to divert her attention.  "Just what in the worlds do you do all
day around here?"
    Murasaki smiled yet again and rose from the chair.  She drifted silently across
the room and tugged the sash on a window open.  An immediate breeze flowed
into the room, taking up locks of the light purple hair and tossing it behind her
to mingle slightly.  "There's not much to do in a place like this.  Companionship
is our greatest treasure." She paused and took in a large breath of the air.
   We have our gardens, which is our main past time.... but we scout the land for
stray wanderers to take as companions...." she chuckled and pushed aside a
curtain, leaning out on the window.  "Like you.  The Reikai isn't exactly a
normal haunt for us... but I made an exception for you, Koenma-chan..." she
turned from the window.
    The bed was empty.
   Her deep eyes darted about the room frantically as she quickly stepped
forward.   Along with the absence of the young man that was once seated, his
clothing was gone too.  "Koenma-chan?  You're not trying to hide from me, are
you?"
   She carefully walked into the center of the room.  There was no way he could
have broken the magic seal on the door... they were several stories up, too high
to jump.
   Another breeze crossed the path of the existing one... another window hung
wide open, sending the soft curtains billowing violently in the wind.  "Damn
you, son of Enma!!" she screamed.  She reached down and picked up the layers
of her gown, rushing quickly to the other open window.
   She threw her upper body over the window sill.  Just below her, a few meters
down, Koenma was expertly making his way down the ivy towers that lined the
castle walls.
   Murasaki choked slightly and hopped onto the window sill...
   "KOENMA-SAMA!!!! Hang on!!!"
   Murasaki was suddenly blown back into the room by a streak of pink
following the cry, knocking her back roughly to the floor, sliding up to meet
with the bed.
   Botan quickly dismounted the oar, stumbling across the floor.
   Murasaki sat up, dazed, just into time to see Botan's face before he was
tackled flat onto the floor again.
     The yosei screamed violently, tossing about, Botan furiously grinding a
small, brown object into her shoulder.  "Get off of me!!!!!!!!!" she screamed
loudly, tossing about frantically.
  Botan hopped back, taking up her oar easily.  She watched carefully as the
yosei hobbled slowly to her feet.  The purple hair swirled about her in the
breeze, her hands trying viscously to swat it from her vision.  "Stay away from 
me , woman!" she choked, tossing locks of the purple hair behind her.
   Botan lurched forward slightly, watching pleased as Murasaki stumbled back. 
"I should kill you for what you did to Koenma before... and what you've most
likely done to him now."
   The yosei snarled and tried to round about Botan to the window.
   The spirit guide easily blocked the escape, herding the yosei back to the
center of the room.   
   Behind her, the curtain rustled and a familiar voice rose up.  "I've got him
Botan!  Come on!" Yo-mawari's voice floated in.
   Botan smiled slightly, more to herself than anything.  She flipped a hand into
the air, the oar appearing in a flash or rei-ki... and she was out the window in a
heart beat.

   Koenma thankfully transformed back into his more comfortable toddler form,
tugging on his hat and grumbling behind the blue pacifier as Botan zoomed
down to meet him and the youko that stood tall beside him.  "Koenma-sama!!!"
she whined, hopping off the oar and nabbing up the little form.
   "Ack!  Botan-san!   I'm fine, really!"
   Botan cuddled the little figure like a prized doll,  turning back and forth,
squeezing tighter and tighter with each turn.  
   The youko beside them bled quickly into the human form of Yo-mawari,
scanning quickly around the area.  He had done some rather interesting work to
get himself and the spirit guide to the castle... behind them the entire garden
area was overgrown with odd Yomatsu and Makai plants, some imprisoning the
yosei in their living tendrils, others having had neatly spliced or eaten whatever
stood in it's path.
   He turned quick, black eyes down to Botan, a small smile gracing his lips as
he watched her squeeze the toddler unrelentlessly.  "Botan-san... did you do
what I asked?"
    She paused her squeezing, letting up slightly.  "Hai.  I put the seed in her
shoulder."
   Yo-mawari owed his head slightly in a silent thank you... and the window
overhead exploded into a tangled mass of vines and leaves, sending a great
shudder through the castle walls.  "That takes care of that..."

    Yukina slid rather gracefully around the corner, following closely behind Hiei
as he darted about quickly, his senses flaring for the slightest twinge of his
lover's you-ki.   A deep scowl set almost permanently in his face, wrinkling his
forehead under the bandanna.
   A light hand gripped his elbow... he turned quickly, his cold features relaxing
slightly as he looked down on Yukina.  "This way, Hiei-san," she spoke quietly,
tugging on his arm and pointing down a corridor,
   He straightened and looked past her, opening his senses... but he felt nothing.
   "Are you sure?"
   "He has a ward over him... but I can still detect his healers soul.  Trust me,"
she smiled gently, tugging on his arm again.

   Kurama winced slightly, trying to channel more of his you-ki into the wounds,
trying feverishly to heal the concussion that still hung over him.  His head
throbbed furiously, robbing his concentration as Kagayaku finished weaving the
last of the ward over him.  "You are such a pain in the ass, you know," she
snarled, twirling off the bed, taking up another of her torture devices, gripping it
tightly in her hand.  "I had so much more I wished to do today... I had other
plans than to babysit a stubborn little human. "She smacked him on the side of
the face with the lash, leaving a deep, red welt instantly.  "And I absolutely
HATE IT when people don't cooperate with me!"
   The new ward prevented all movement from him... he lay helplessly still as
Kagayaku hopped easily on to the bed, kicking at the sheets and snarling curses
to himself.  The stinging in his cheek intensified suddenly... he couldn't channel
any amounts of the free you-ki floating about him to do so much as rustle a
petal on the flowers that stood about the room.
   His head hurt too much to really care about anything but staying alive.  He
closed his eyes tightly, trying to brace himself for whatever assault would come. 
He choked back a slight sob, imagining if he could ever hope to survive this
ordeal... to survive to see his little fire demon again.  No matter what he had to.
   "Open your eyes, ningen!" the yosei snarled above him... quickly laying the
lash onto his other cheek.  Involuntarily his eyes popped open... but it wasn't the
lash... something played on the edge of his muted senses... a familiar spark in
you-ki.
   "... Hiei..."
   Kagayaku growled deeply.  "You still call his name... pathetic excuse for a
man.  The BOTH of you!"
   "Watch your words..." a deep voice broke in, shaking the room slightly,
shuddering the flowers in their pots.
    Kagayaku turned swiftly... a small black shadow hung just in the doorway,
three red eyes in a triangular formation glowing from the depths.  The shadow
snarled loudly, a metallic object glinting suddenly into view.
   "How in the name of hell did you get through that door??" the yosei gasped,
jumping off the bed.
   "Never mind.  You've committed a great crime, both against me and that
man's brother," the figure pointed to Kurama.  "And for that, I find it only right
to kill you..."
   Kagayaku laughed harshly and began forward.
   Another figure appeared in the shadow of the doorway, stepping forward into
the light.  Yukina bravely stood,  gripping the sides of her kimono, something
long and icy blue in one of her hands.
   The yosei fell back immediately... Yukina stepped forward.
   Hiei appeared from the shadows,  bringing the katana before him.  "Yukina,
make sure Kurama's okay... I can handle this"
   She shook her head slightly, keeping wild red eyes on the yosei as she slowly
rounded to the bed.
  "Keep your hands off him, woman.  He's MINE!"
   "WRONG!" Hiei boomed, lurching forward, spreading the katana before him. 
"He's mine," he ended in a hissing whisper, glaring down the figure before him.
   "You stand no chance against me, little youkai... I could rip you into 50
pieces faster than you could blink."
  Hiei smiled a feral smile and crouched.  "Only 50?" 
  The bandages on his arm seethed with an eerie black smoke, seeping into the
air around him.  They began to ignite in several places, burning right onto his
skin, dissipating as it ate through the bandages into a purple fire.  The fires
seemed to etch a curling, spiked black tattoo onto his arm, the shape of a black
dragon coiling tightly about his entire arm like a great vine.
   The head of the tattoo lifted from Hiei's fist and hissed violently at the yosei,
red, glowing orbs filling in where eyes should be.

   Yukina worked easily to undo the ward.  It was a simple ward without much
power, locked only in place my the fact that it was weaved and ties throughout
Kurama's ties wrists.
   Kurama laid still on the bed as she worked her healers ways, more dazed and
exhausted to do much of anything else.  His chest laid in a giant, horrid mess of
cross-hatching, like someone had played tic-tac-toe with a whip on his skin. 
Identical slashed ran down his cheeks, quickly being sealed by the combined
efforts of both Yukina and himself...
   A sickly heat rolled in on Yukina as she laid her hands gently on the scarring
wounds of Kurama's chest.  She looked over quickly to the little youkai she
accompanied.  The Kokuryuha still laid semi imbedded on his arm, fighting
violently to be released.
   "Yukina..." the dark voice of Hiei floated back, bringing with it more heat. 
"Can you get Kurama out of hear?"
   On his own, Kurama struggled to his hands and sat up, biting back pain as he
stretched and ripped open some of the scabbing wounds.  Yukina looked to him
quickly, watching him nod his head slightly.  "Hai, Hiei-san," she said softly,
scooting off the bed and helping the tall, young man.
   Hiei shifted, putting himself between Yukina and Kagayaku.  "Get out of this
castle as fast as you can."
   "Hai," she answered swiftly, feeling Kurama rest some of his weight down on
her small shoulders.
   "Get out.. now!" he ordered harshly, slashing at the yosei before him.
   Yukina wasted no time and hurried Kurama out of the room and into the
hallway.  Momentary panic set in as she looked up and down the blank corridor,
trying to remember how they got here in the first place.  Too much occupied
her mind as she kept pumping her you-ki over to Kurama, trying to ease the
immense pain he felt.
   She gave in and just began down the left way, more or less pulling Kurama
with her.  "Kurama-san.. can you make it out of here alright?"
   Kurama groaned something, reaching a hand up to his head.  "I think so. 
Don't worry about me.  Let's just go."
   Another corridor erupted into a huge blast of ki, one of the walls completely
collapsing over.  A barreling laugh resounded, pinging off the walls like
maniacle echoes, swirling about them.  Kuwabara's great voice laughed into
existence, mercilessly.  "HA!!!  I, Kuwabara Kazuma will not rest until
everyone one of you..."
   "Just shut up and let's get going!" Shizuru's voice broke in.
   Yukina paused and looked down the hall.  "Kazuma-san!" she called.  "Over
here!"
   There was a startled squeak.... then Kuwabara soon came bounding up the
corridor, arms flailing out beside him, laughing like an utter moron.  "AH!! 
Yukina-san!!!" he screeched, sliding through the corridor, hopping rubble piles.
   HE slid to a faltered stop and bowed... then noticed she was practically
carrying Kurama.
   The green eyes fluttered and smiled as best as they could.
  "Geeze, Kurama... ya look like shit!" 
   Shizuru reached quickly over and bonked her younger brother over the head. 
"Show some respect, you ingrate.  Geeze!"
   Kurama stood up, wincing slightly, biting his bottom lip.  "We have to get out
of here quickly... Hiei..."
   "That little squirt's gonna burn the place down???  AHHH!!  He's gonna kill
us all one of these days!"  Shizuru elbowed him.  Kuwabara wiggled slightly,
but instead stepped forward, laying one of Kurama's arms about his neck.
   "What are you doing.. you're not going to CARRY ME are you??" Kurama
protested.  
   Kuwabara smiled foolishly and heaved him up into his arms easily.  "You can't
exactly walk in your condition."
   Shizuru snorted.  "Always so noble when Yukina's around, ne?" she waited
for the inevitable squeal of protest from her brother.  "I hope you get a hernia,
Kazuma!!"

(c) August 1997 by Jiminy Cricket Presses