Black Chimera
Chapter 3 Prt II: Never Go Gently - Part II
by Cricket


      Youko Kurama slid easily around a corner, bundle and all...
      ... the same time Youko Yo-mawari and Hiei rounded their corner and met up.
      Yo-mawari was poised to congratulate his brother, all smiles, until he saw the horribly frail skeleton-figure of a man cradled like a baby in Kurama's arms. He was thin beyond belief, his skin grey and lifeless, hanging off the bones below. He had no muscle structure whatsoever that he could see, just a hideous shell, like a starved frog drying in the sun.
      Kuronue suddenly shot blue eyes to Yo-mawari...
      Yo-mawari stumbled back, sudden memories of Kuraihana's brilliant and iridescent deep blue eyes popping back into clear focus through all those times he had caught himself staring into them. He knew from the little he had been allowed to know, the Kuronue was Kuraihana's biological father, the two being almost completely alike as a father and daughter could be. And those eyes told it all.
      Kuronue frowned at the new Youko and looked back and forth between him and Kurama's streaming silver lines, watching the two Youko's smile and wink back and forth at each other as if in silent conversation. "Nani... kore wa..."
      "I'll explain later," Kurama urged, gesturing to the stairs leading from the dungeon with a brilliant flip of his hair. "Do you think those guards will fall for your shurikens one more time, 'Wari-kun?"
      "Looks like we'll find out," and Hiei was up the steps before anyone could blink, disappearing around the first twirl of the staircase into the darkness beyond.

      The guard scratched his head as the shuriken rolled by again, but he didn't move. Instead he watched and listened to it, feet never moving from their position before the large, oak door. The other guard just shrugged and returned to yawning.
      "So, you wanna play that way?" a deep voice growled through the door behind them... seconds before it flung open. The door flung with surprising swiftness as all three infiltrators behind it gave it a good, hard kick, sending the two guards flying to bash into the opposite wall. Instantly they fell from consciousness, slumping to bulky, awkward piles on the floor.
      Hiei appeared in the doorway first, the small frame dwarfed more than usual as the door swung back, stopped in a violent shutter at the youkai's outstretched hand. Red eyes darted along the hallway, confirming that it was now deserted of seeking eyes, curling a finger over his shoulder to motion everyone on. "Come on! The way this hall was patrolled earlier, it won't take long for those two to be discovered!"
      Yo-mawari darted out first, calling the shuriken back to his shoulder, his very presence blazing a trail before him over the stonework, a small network of tiny, red-glowing seedlings springing into existence. It was a trail he had laid following Kurama into the Treasure House incase they got separated or Kurama couldn't lead. They lit before him as he ran, leading the others on, the small lights disappearing directly behind them, the seedlings shimmering to dissolve in the air.
      The menacingly long katana poised laid and ready for anything in Yo-mawari's grip, swinging great, metallic arcs through the air as he followed the red lights through the patchwork of shadows and noon- day light.
      Kurama came next, darting as quickly behind his twin, the light and frail figure of Kuronue draped in his arms. The thin figure hardly bobbled under Kurama's smooth stride, one arm draped up over the Youko's shoulder. Occasionally he would grumble in disgust, snarling to Kurama to put him down, Kuronue half embarrassed at the fact he had to be carried to his freedom.
      Followed at a safe distance, the Jagan on his forehead glowing eerie shades of green, Hiei ran with a swift stride, keeping exact pace with the Youko before him. The third eye, in a sense, was watching their back, flashing images of the hall behind them as they ran, keeping watch incase someone tried to ambush their retreat.
      "This is so humiliating," Kuronue groaned, adjusting his grip on Kurama's neck as he ran.. more like floated through the halls of the Treasure House.
      "I could put you back in the cell."
      "Ha ha," he groaned, sarcastically. "I don't know which would be worse."
      "Just keep quiet and quit complaining," Kurama ordered in a low whisper. "You can nag and whine all you want once we get the hell out of here."
      Kuronue frowned and wrinkled his nose at Kurama, once again bringing his sarcasm back into full bloom. "Yes, mother," he snorted.
      The group burst around a corner like a burst damn, racing along only to come face to face with a group of 8 kaibutsu. The 8 were startled heavily by the sudden presence of the three, recognizing youko's immediately. One lunged for a switch on the wall, nearly ripping it off its stand to send a loud, wailing siren into existence.
      The eight barely had any more time to think as Yo-mawari's and shuriken battalion made quick work of them, the three sliding to a halt as the mass of green and blue blood suddenly plastered every square inch of the floor and walls around the eight... only to have another swarm come up the other side of the hall.
      "INTRUDERS!!"
      "Here we go," Kurama whispered, cursing lowly under his breath.
      "Yeah," Kuronue scoffed. "Just like old times, ne?"
      "Quiet you."
      Lead by Yo-mawari's amazing sense of direction, he lead them all off the path they had entered, circling through the Treasure house. Hiei soon became disoriented again, launching half the shuriken battalion behind them to the swarming heard of kaibutsu that moaned into the hall behind them. For all he knew, they could be going in circles.
      But, much to his surprise, they soon slid into the main hall they had entered, finding a large group of demons and monsters awaiting them.
      "Ahh, I see they've finally beefed their security," Kurama mused.
      "You're enjoying this, aren't you!!" Kuronue gnashed his mouth, snarling more to himself than the Youko's odd fascination with this escape.
      Kurama shifted him to one arm, reaching to his hair to pull a hand full of seeds, expertly balancing Kuronue's gently weight. They glowed and odd yellow, a deadly you-ki swirling around them... a plant Kuronue had not felt in a long time. He watched as Kurama tossed them easily before him, sending them shooting like small fragments of shrapnel, some contacting the leather flesh of the demons, others imbedding into the walls and floor.
      Around him, Hiei leapt with am almost undetachable presence, darting after the seeds, katana blazing. Among the frothing enemies the seeds didn't hit, Hiei went to work, quickly slicing at anything and everything that was unfamiliar to him. Odd-colored blood flew in all directions, resulting from the combined efforts... and as suddenly as Hiei and the shuriken's had laid into the humongous hord, they darted away to safety.
      In a huge explosion, the seeds Kurama had flung sprouted in a dusty blaze of you-ki... the Shokuyu Shokubatsus'', snarling into existence, hungry for blood no matter what kind. A clear path to the large doors behind the plants was blazed, Yo-mawari and Kurama turning the plants full attention and towards the kaibutsu who tried both to flee and attack the escaping trio at the same time.
      "Ok, we have under a minute before the entire fleet is released!" Kurama announces as they all sprung out into the bamboo forest beyond, an all-too familiar path Kurama had etched in morning into his deep, centuries-old memory.
      "That doesn't leave much room for a plan, fox!"
      "Just head for the cliff."
      "The cliff??" Hiei and Kuronue echoed around the Youko.
      "Just trust me..."
      KABOOM!!!
      It was an unfamiliar explosion to all ears, Kurama daring a glance behind past Hiei to see the doors to the Treasure House blast open in a powerful explosion, shattering the Shokuyu Shokubatsu that had eaten nearly a quarter of the hord. What was left of that band, joined with nearly every other fight-worth soul the Treasure House could employ, swarmed out of the doors like a living flood, following quickly.
      "They're early!" Kurama and Kuronue doubled.
      "Looks like they finally wised up," Kuronue said silently, more to himself, looking around and past Kurama's shoulder.
      Before them, the bamboo forest was making way for them all to pass unheeded, bending a clear path through, heading straight for the cliffs that loomed just beyond...
      And then the bamboo spears began to fly.
      Kurama cringed inwardly and stepped up his pace. He felt Kuronue tighten his grip on his neck, shuddering harshly, burying his face down into the crick of his neck as more and more of the deadly spears began to whiz by them. "Don't worry, I've got you this time," Kurama whispered carefully to his burden, gather the light frame up further into his arms.
      Hiei fell back and brought up the rear again, urging Kurama on, pushing at the Youko's back as he ran behind, pulling out the double- edged katana. The Jagan glowed furiously, Hiei darting left and right from the straight path to shred the bamboo spears that threatened to come too close to his beloved fox, his companion and his twin. Not a difficult job...
      They flew past the cell that once held Kuronue for the sacrifice, the ragged and unhealthy body beginning to shake roughly. Kurama tightened his grip... he could see their destination: The cliff. A sheer drop, nearly half a mile straight down to the Makai Forest below.
      "Kurama, you're crazy," Kuronue shuddered. "I can't fly... not in my condition."
      "I'm gonna be the one doing the flying."
      "Baka.. you don't have wings!"
      "So I improvise!"
      Closer and closer, the sound of Hiei's hacking becoming less and less fierce as the cliff loomed, calling them forward. Kurama remembered the last cliff he had come in contact with, the cliff in Yomatsu that Kuwabara had pushed them all off in an odd vision, wondering why ever on the world... or HOWEVER such a suicidal action ended up saving all their lives. And yet, here they were again: another cliff, another life-saving jump.
      " 'Wari-kun! Can you get Hiei?" Youko Kurama snapped himself to, preparing for what was to come next.
      "Sure thing!" Kurama watched the twin break formation and nab up Hiei, firmly grabbing him as the cliff loomed nearer...
      "Kurama, you're insane!" he head Kuronue yell one last time.
      And they jumped...
      Nothing but the calm blue, uninhibited air surrounded them, the greenery of the Makai forest suddenly forming the floor blow them, a half-mile drop.
      Kuronue pressed his eyes shut tight, waiting for the inevitable stomach-wrenching drop and the sound of their bodies breaking through the trees... but instead, he heard nothing. In fact, he felt like he was flying!
      Kuronue chanced a peak. They WERE flying! Or gliding at least. The terrain below gently flowed underneath them, a rolling scenery, a dream-scape.
      That was it, a dream! Kuronue groaned and tried to will himself to wake up. All a dream, but it couldn't have been. It was too real, too vivid... or he just wanted it to be real.
      As he looked about him for the normal indications of a dream scape, he noticed a vine gently encircling his waist, writhing past him to encircle Kurama's waist. As he followed it, he noticed it attached to a pair of plant-like gliding wings, fluttering above them, catching the updrafts from the forest below to glide them along.
      Beside them, Hiei and Yo-mawari floated to keep stride with Youko Kurama, the same pair of plant-like wings firmly anchored around his shoulders and waist.
      Maybe it wasn't a dream.
      He hoped it wasn't a dream. Kuronue was free. For the first time in... he couldn't remember how long, he was free again. Whether it was the years of torment or the heart-pounding escape, Kuronue's mind fuzzed over with sleep, bogging down his senses as he struggled to stay awake to watch the display under him. Where could they have been going?
      His eye lids slid shut, refusing to open again. Sleep overtook his weak body, collapsing his systems as he laid his head over on Kurama's shoulder.
      And his world faded to an oddly comforting black, wrapping around him, lulling him off to sleep, the light fingers of the wind running through the matted mass of black hair, sending him off to sleep.

© September 1997 by Jiminy Cricket Presses

On to Part 4