InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Blue Anshan ❯ The Rescue 10 - Coming Together ( Chapter 32 )

The Blue Anshan

By Alesyira

Disclaimer: Inuyasha and Yu Yu Hakusho are not mine. I made a few OCs to fill in my gaps.

Summary: Let's start getting the gang back together, already.

Chapter Rating: T.

Author's Note: Broke this chapter in half. Originally posted as 8,904 words on 3/23/19.

Arc 4 - The Rescue 10 - Coming Together

…must run faster. Wind whipped past his form as he bounded across the tops of magenta trees, his toes barely skimming the wispy leaves. Some small piece of his soul sang with joy while his mind tried to stay on target. The time for celebration would come, but first the danger must be stopped.

the present

"How long have you had the vine?"

"I kept a blue seed as a trinket in a necklace for a while, but one day it suddenly grew into... this." A large loop of the plant brushed her cheek in an odd display of apparent affection, and she smiled in response.

"Has it always acted like that?"

"No... I think it caught on to certain behaviors, and now it reproduces such actions when it is triggered by my emotions."

"How has it survived without drawing this level of attention?"

"Well, it has only been like this for the last year or so, and it survives without affecting others by drawing on my energy."

"And yet, you seem quite alive. It seems that every other youkai you encountered before we found you met an untimely end. Can you explain this?"

She shrugged. "I'm immune to its poisons, I think, but anything past that would be guessing on my part. Anyways, those that the anshan killed today were low-leveled jerks that had weak spirits and no protection against the vine's attacks. They would have been fine had they left me alone." Well, it was a half-truth, at least. She was failing at playing off how dangerous it really seemed to be.

"Oh…" she said, pausing mid-step. She had glanced down at the path and caught sight of red blooming across the front of her shirt. She wasn't sure where all the blood was coming from.

Kurama spotted the cut on her neck that had not dried to clot and stop the bleeding. "Strange. It's not that deep of a cut." As if on cue, his communicator trilled from his pocket. He nudged them off the path, looking around for a suitable copse of trees in which they could rest for a few moments while he passed along instructions to the other two that were drawing close.

Kagome pulled out some supplies to treat the injury and listened to the brief conversation. She sensed the apparition's departure but didn't know if he meant to scout ahead or to go back and help guide the two missing teammates to their location. She wasn't entirely sure she was ready for a full party to accompany her to the Goshinboku, but she did feel better about having backup against an unknown enemy.

Once the communicator closed again, Kurama knelt by her side and helped apply a bandage to her neck. "We are not immune to your plant, and so I need to make some more preventative for the others. They'll be here very soon, and so we will not be waiting here long."

"Did your friend go to get them?"

Kurama seemed a little surprised that she noticed Hiei had left, but he shrugged noncommittally. "Possibly. He isn't far."

He pulled some seeds from his hair, sprouted a few plants and placed them in a small pile next to a fallen trunk nearby, then started lifting rocks around the clearing as he looked for something else. He sighed in exasperation as he turned up empty handed, rock after rock. "I'll be within earshot, but I need to keep looking for these things. Don't go anywhere, ok?"

'Ugh, more eyes. You really need to develop a plant that will produce the same effect, so we can avoid this in the future.'

~I agree. A worthy research topic. We'll start on that when we return home.~

She watched him as he stepped to another rock, lifted it quietly, then lifted another, and another, each time coming up empty-handed. She morbidly wondered what ingredient he would find under a rock that was necessary for whatever he was putting together, and her mind supplied disgusting images of smashed worms or crushed beetles or piles of frantic, stinging ants. Soon he had stepped out of sight, and she leaned back against a tree to sit quietly, listening to the sounds of the forest. The grey foliage had begun to shift back into more familiar shades of blue and green and brown as they walked, so it was a little less unsettling that it had been earlier that day after she'd left the rickety bridge behind.

Kurama was ridiculously quiet in his traversal of the woods, and once he was out of sight she had no idea where he was. There was no wind, and the dried leaves on the forest floor made unnerving otherworldly scritch noises when a tiny creature decided to skitter through the underbrush. She eyed the knife-like branches that still sprouted from the trunks of trees nearby, surely a deathtrap for anyone not being very careful to stay on the path. This place had so few similarities to forests she'd traveled through countless times over the last few years.

A vague rumbling slowly became apparent in the ground under her, and then it was accompanied by a faint rattling noise. She got to her feet and crouched in a defensive stance with her bow, searching the area around the clearing for any indication of what caused the growing noise.

-o-

"She's by herself!" he hissed at his partner in glee. "Imma take her out!" Their little army of creations rumbled ahead of them toward the small clearing where the girl stood, still unable to see their approach beyond the thick underbrush.

Kurama had just plucked a tiny wriggling lizard from its hiding place beneath a rock when the plant life around him roared to sudden activity with warnings of fire. He turned and leapt back toward the clearing he'd left just a short few minutes before. This timing was impossible. He spotted Kagome crouched low, unaware of the small army of glowing hot spiders scrabbling toward her from just beyond the underbrush, accompanied by the two fighters from earlier in the day.

He cursed internally and brandished his whip, readying a petal whirlwind to encompass and protect the clearing. ~Piss poor strategic planning. What has gotten into us lately that we missed this possibility?~

Moetsuku cackled in absolute delight and leapt forward, sailing over their advance army to reach the cautious female first. He knew their little creatures would attack as soon as they were in range, and he really wanted this win all to himself. As soon as he landed on the ground beside the girl, he swept his arm outward and knocked her bodily away from the clearing, then leapt after her figure that had crashed loudly through the dim surroundings.

Kurama growled in irritation as he released his attack, but it arrived a split second too late as Kagome and the fighting male flew from the tiny clearing.

Kagome wasn't expecting the violent jerk from earlier that day to attack so soon. The impact hit her hard in the middle, knocking the wind from her and preventing the shriek that would have surely been involuntarily ripped from her lungs as she flew through the woods. Sharp branches tore through her clothing and sliced through some of the vine that tried to slow her momentum. She tried to roll with the impact once she hit the ground but landed hard on her left shoulder and got some major abrasions as she slid across the forest floor. One of the sharp branches she passed had punched through the flesh of her left side, and so when she rolled over and tried to stand, every part of her being told her that wasn't going to happen.

She shuddered against the waves of pain as she got to her hands and knees and coughed, spraying flecks of blood across the dirt before her face. Ash-dusted bare feet came into view and she tilted her head back to look up at the brash jerk smirking down at her. He crouched and leaned forward as she weakly pressed her still functional right hand against the skin of his too-hot chest in a pathetic attempt to keep him at bay.

Unintimidated by the bedraggled female, he leaned into her palm and grinned inches from her bloody face, the temperature around their bodies rapidly climbing as he called up his magic to finish her off. "Stupid girl. You can't stop him. You can't even bother him. Such a weak little gnat. All it took was some heat and muscle and you went down in flames. You should have gone home while you still had a chance." He pulled his hand back beside his head and curled his fingertips into a loose fist as it ignited in flames. "Say bye-bye."

She coughed again, wincing at the pain as flecks of blood spattered both him and the skin of her outstretched arm before she obligingly whispered, "Bye."

A tiny burst of blinding light leapt directly from her palm into the skin of his chest. She had to risk it. There would be no heroic last-minute rescue, and whatever repercussions might arise from revealing her magic she would have to deal with if (and when) they came. She tried to keep it contained, narrow and focused on the primary target, but she had no idea how an environment such as this would react to the sudden introduction of her magic that had been so carefully gathered and hidden away within herself.

For the smallest moment of time his face held an expression of shocked surprise before he disintegrated with a choked-off screech of denial.

-o-

The petal whirlwind easily took out a dozen of the fire spiders and forced Kaibun to focus on the threat he posed. Fully intending to leap after Kagome to save her from the other fighter, he was caught completely off guard when Kaibun's form seized up in sudden fury. Rage tore through her and chaos exploded in the clearing as she sensed her connection to Moetsuku disintegrate. Half of the remaining fire spiders immediately exploded like little napalm grenades, splashing burning youki and molten rock in a wide radius around them.

Trees burst into flame around the battle-ruined clearing as she turned in fury toward where she felt the bond sever, and she lifted her arms to propel a blazing attack into the tree line where Kagome struggled to get to her feet just out of sight.

"Yeesh, this is a scene straight outta arachnophobia!" Yusuke said as he burst into the clearing with Kuwabara at his side, the taller of which was staring beyond the trees in Kagome's direction. With Kaibun literally on fire as she charged up to release her final attack at whomever had taken from her, Yusuke fired his spirit gun at a mass of the spiders that were flying toward Kurama. Hiei appeared as well from a break in the trees above and flashed through the clearing with his sword in hand, quickly dismantling the fiery furious menace. She collapsed into ash and smoldering bits of ember, which sputtered out as her youki dispersed.

The youki-fueled flames in the treetops began to subside, and the spiders dissolved one by one into their original burnt remains.

-o-

With the adrenaline still surging, she knew she needed to do something before her body gave out on her. She crawled to the closest tree, then used it and her bow to help leverage herself to her feet. The vines trailed uselessly behind her. She knew she'd treated the poor plant worse when she'd taken out Naraku in that last-ditch effort so long ago, but she still felt guilty for putting the sentient thing through the pain of her magic. Kami, she felt thoroughly broken. She wasn't sure what was wrong with her shoulder, the left side of her face felt numb and blood was dripping into her eye from a cut on her forehead, and …

She coughed involuntarily, and stars of pain exploded behind her eyes as more blood spattered the tree keeping her upright. Choice curse words skipped across her brain as she spat out the coppery fluid.

She closed her eyes and opened her senses, feeling for anything malignant nearby. She could barely pick up fading traces of energy back at the clearing, and she took it as a good sign that perhaps Kurama had chased off or beaten the lady that had been accompanying the jerk earlier that day.

'I can make it fifty paces in that direction. That's it - I just have to make sure they're ok.' She understood that in her current state, if he wasn't okay and the evil lady was still alive, she probably wouldn't make it to the Goshinboku anyways.

one step at a time

focus on putting one foot in front of the other

move slowly to avoid jostling injuries

-o-

Kuwabara rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish expression. "Man, sorry Kurama. We were close but didn't realize there was danger, so we had stopped running. When I saw that bright light, we made it here as quick as possible."

Yusuke looked around in confusion. "What happened here? That lady definitely wasn't attacking you."

"And where'd that light come from?" Kuwabara added on before Kurama had a chance to reply.

"You mean the fire?" Yusuke asked.

"Nah - something else, like … an explosion, or a lightning strike. It lit up the whole forest."

Hiei shrugged. None of the others had apparently seen anything.

Kagome stumbled in through the tree line just then, holding her middle with one arm and her bow dragging along the ground from her other hand. Blood flowed freely from her wounds, one in her hairline and another on her side. The vine trailed limp behind her, completely lifeless like a tattered cape of blue.

Kuwabara's jaw dropped open in surprise at the sight of her aura before sense took over and he rushed to her aid. "hey lady, are you okay? Here let me take that, sit here. That's right, easy…" He fussed over her like a mother hen as Kurama approached her side.

Hiei, suspicious of where the other fighter disappeared to, zipped into the forest from where she had emerged. What he found made his hair stand up on end in wary caution. A strange burning energy still hovered in the air, and there was a mysterious dusting of glittering ash beneath the female's trail of blood. *What the fuck?*

Youko's ears perked immediately, although he kept his attention on the limp vines he held gingerly in his hands. ~Find something interesting?~

*What happened to the loudmouthed fire youkai?* Hiei couldn't believe what his eyes and senses were telling him.

~I'm not sure - I nearly didn't make it back in time to prevent them from ambushing the girl. The male knocked her out of the clearing almost immediately and then I assume chased after her.~

'The girl is in pretty rough condition but alive. Perhaps the other youkai fled?'

*Not fled... dead.*

Kurama prodded at the unresponsive vines with a trickle of ki, and he watched as it curled a tiny vine around his fingertips in response. The impression he received from the plant was a blob of scrambled colors and light.

He could hear a bubbling rasp as she sat leaning against a tree, struggling to breathe. Broken ribs. Punctured lung, filling with blood. 'She sounds bad. If she truly is human - her injuries might kill her. Perhaps we should call Botan and get her to a healer.'

"Your youki is at such a low level - how can you possibly heal without it?"

She didn't answer. Her spiritual power would help her heal, although she had to try not to drown in her own blood, first. "I'll survive." '...probably...' She was starting to feel like a broken record.

~We can try something... if she is kitsune, it will help her heal. If she is human insisting on continuing with this charade...well, her final moments on this earth will be much more pleasant.~

'If she starts getting ill again I trust you'll stop before we get a nasty surprise…'

Kurama stepped closer and murmured, "Let me help you."

She wasn't sure what he could possibly do, maybe some painkilling medicine and carry her to her task? She might be able to scare off the evil youkai if she flailed about convincingly enough, even if she was coughing up blood.

"Can you trust me?"

She frowned at his expression, trying to judge what she could see. Anticipation? Excitement? Sincerity? She did not know him well enough to read him. (She didn't know him at all.) But damn, she was in some pain. The urge to cough again was overwhelming, but each movement felt like she was stabbing herself in the chest. Coughing any more as the adrenaline faded would be agony.

"I can try..." she whispered, hesitantly.

He leaned very close to her, threading the fingers of one hand into the hair behind her head before gently pressing his lips to hers.

Kuwabara immediately began to protest about taking advantage of injured women, and Yusuke shouted something mostly unintelligible but laced with angry cursing.

Kagome was vaguely aware of the sounds of scuffling nearby, but the rest of her brain helpfully shut down. Warm lips slid sensuously across her own, and she felt a tentative swipe of a tongue passing over the drops of her blood. Her eyelids fluttered shut and she sighed, thinking that at least if she had to be horribly injured she would have a few moments of ...

Wait, what was she doing?! She jerked backwards and gasped in surprise at herself, pained by the sudden movement.

~Damn, her blood has some bite to it. It burns my tongue like humans complain of strong alcohol.~

*Burns...?* Hiei's interest was immediate and unexpected.

'The plant toxin?'

~No, the toxin was that unnatural sweet flavor. This was something else entirely.~ He eyed her speculatively, looking at other sources of bleeding. ~Hmm, I wonder if she'd be willing to let me have another taste of that blood, maybe a little nip on her lip or...~

'NO. Proposition after she has healed and her task is complete. She seems to be in a hurry to rescue this tree.'

Youko grumbled a few pouty thoughts in response.

Kurama chastised her gently with a playful smirk. "You're not doing it right - I'm trying to share with you."

Her brain was mush. "Share?" was the only word she could manage.

"Take some of my ki to help you heal - it's easier for you to take it than me trying to give. Your body will use it faster if you make the effort to draw it in before your pet plant takes it away again." He pressed his lips to hers again, urging her to take.

She managed to pull away long enough to say, "I- I don't know how."

He searched her confused expression for a short moment, then groaned and pulled her to him, hard, parting her lips with his own and deepening the kiss. His tongue slipped between her lips and stroked once, gently, against the edge of her own.

Her chest hurt, and it was hard to breathe ...well, truthfully it had already been difficult before he had started on her, but her toes still curled in unexpected delight at the sensual onslaught. She could feel gentle wisps of his energy snaking out along her body where they touched, causing the fine hairs on her arms to lift in anticipation. She had a vague impression that those tiny wisps of his ki were normally used to steal energy from helpless victims, but then he changed the angle of his mouth and pushed something from himself to her along invisible pathways. A flood of warmth rushed through her and caused her knees to buckle. She found herself barely clinging to his arms as a tiny sound of pleasure escaped her throat.

He tore his mouth from hers, his breathing ragged and his eyes bright.

Kurama was very close to losing control of himself. It was only knowing he had an audience of teammates that kept him from pulling this delightful creature with him to the forest floor to play until the sun rose the next day.

'What kind of kitsune doesn't know how to draw energy from others like that?'

~Only the young ones. A young kit will do it instinctually from those they are closest to, but by the end of adolescence they usually figure out how it works by playing with others.~

He focused his attention on her dazed expression. This was not the normal kitsune response to a good kiss. It was closer to a human reaction, but still... not quite.

She looked very confused and shocked as he gave her some space. Her hand shakily rose to cover her lips, and she looked away from him, thoroughly embarrassed and her pain mostly forgotten.

'Oh my gosh, this man just... I just had... he ... tongue?!' She had a mental panic. There went her first real kiss to a practical stranger.

*You know, Fox, I'm starting to believe your theory that she might really be a human. No self-respecting vixen would let you molest her uninvited, nor would they have let you stop once you got started.*

Kurama narrowed his eyes at her very telling response. Adding just a hint of concerned regret into his voice, he said, "I didn't mean to take advantage of you - how... old are you?"

As expected, indignation lit up her expression and she huffed in annoyance. By implying she might be too young to have been kissing, she took immediate offense and blurted out, "I'm almost nineteen!" Embarrassed again, she pulled away from him and unsteadily made her way around the smoldering remains of the ember spiders to her backpack.

Youko internally sighed. ~Human.~

*Human.* Hiei snickered at the same time.

At least her lungs were no longer actively filling with blood. The jolt of ki Kurama had given her seemed to have helped a little, even if he didn't understand how it could have done any good. He was thankful nausea stayed out of the picture this time.

The natural human reaction to his energy should have been more along the lines of an extended romp on the forest floor, regardless of her being at death's door. A normal human wouldn't have been able to help themselves. 'Her being an avatar is starting to make more sense.'

Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara stood at the other side of the clearing. It was a little obvious that Hiei had prevented the other two from interrupting that unexpected kiss (well, technically three extended kisses)

"Miss… are you okay?" Kuwabara asked, hesitantly. He could see some crazy colors in the girl's aura that didn't resemble anything he'd seen before.

"Yeah, like I keep saying, I'll survive. I guess resting at all is going to be out of the question until I get done with saving the day..." this last bit she muttered in irritation, but everyone understood her quite well. She knelt for her gear and pulled out more bandages from her first-aid kit.

Kuwabara rushed back to her side to help bandage her wounds that were no longer as awful as they had been a few minutes prior.

Kurama watched her motions with a critical eye. "Kuwabara, watch your contact with that plant. I need just a moment to finish this preventative, and then we can all accompany you to your destination."

"Hey, hey, wait a minute - what is going on? We just got here - and nothing is making sense. Who is this chick, and where's the human we are supposed to be rescuing?" Yusuke wasn't too pleased. Kuwabara wordlessly pointed at Kagome as he helped her cleanse the wound in her side. Yusuke squinted and frowned in disbelief. "We came to save a human that set off a holy sensor. This is a youkai. Tail and everything."

Kagome visibly flinched at the mention of 'holy'. Kuwabara ignored all of this as he tore open fresh gauze and tried to get Kagome to move her arm out of the way.

"And what's with all the dead bodies between there and here?"

She winced. "I'm so sorry - everything kept attacking me. I shouldn't even be here, but I have to..." she trailed off.

Kurama, while extracting and crushing the eyes from a handful of tiny lizards (how did he find them so quickly? Kagome shuddered slightly in revulsion), said, "She is trying to save an ancient tree. We are going to help her get there with less death and destruction, and then we will help her get home."

"Wait, she isn't responsible for all that on the way up here, is she?"

Kagome wasn't sure if Yusuke looked horrified or impressed, but she promptly hid her face in her hands. "Not directly," she muttered, her voice muffled.

"The plant she carries is deadly. That is what this is for." He nodded toward the disgusting ingredients he was carefully crushing together.

Yusuke scowled. "All this trouble to save one tree? Damn, all you tree-hugging kitsune are a mess."

Kurama finished the concoction after a few more minutes and handed small packets to each of them. He repeated the few warnings he had already given Hiei, then each of them took a dose. Kurama withheld a chuckle at the look of absolute disgust on Yusuke and Kuwabara's faces as they swallowed.