Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction / Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ 'Til The Last Sunset ❯ Chapter 2: Animal Instinct ( Chapter 2 )

Animal Instinct

Drof: Hahhahahha!! You must wait yet another chappie, *perhaps* for the truth about a certain ancient Egyptian thief and a certain blue-haired muse of mine to be revealed! *Only MAYBE.*

Karasu: *rolls eyes.* Joy. *continues chasing Yami-Ko with scythe.*

Yami-Ko: DIDN'T I SAY TO HELP ME?!! I mean, you DID say he'd blame me, but this is just RIDICULOUS!! HEEEELP!

Drof: *grins evilly.* Not a chance. Don't worry, he won't hurt you…Besides, I'm still in a bad mood, being VERY angry at Nikio…

Yami-Ko: SO YOU'RE TAKING IT OUT ON ME?!!

Drof: Um, actually, Karasu wouldn't listen if I tried to reason with him, and though he wouldn't hurt you, he'd probably hurt me, sooo….

Yami-Ko: You're letting me suffer?

Drof: Yeah.

Disclaimer: Ford owns nothing. At all. She's a pathetic loser who will never have a life beyond fanfiction, and is hopelessly obsessed with Karasu, who shows intelligence in disliking her, since she's a useless waste of space…

Drof: STOP IT!!!!!! I OWN THE OCS!!!!!!!!!!!!

***

Chapter 2: Animal Instinct

Kurama noticed this, but didn't say anything about it. He resolved to question the two later, but for now, he'd not mention it…Let them think he didn't notice.

"Hey, whazzat?" BHS asked, in the midst of arguing with Karasu.

"What's what?" Karasu responded with his own question.

"Dont'cha feel it? It's like…" BHS trailed off, obviously not knowing how to describe what it was like. By then, Karasu didn't need her to say anymore. He could feel it too, an aura that was faintly familiar, but seemed somehow…corrupted, and wrong. He stood up, and started for the door.

"Going somewhere?" Bakura asked. He and Nikio had returned to their original sitting positions, and both were looking curiously at Karasu.

"Just going to see something," the dark-haired youkai replied. *Teehee, I have always wanted to call him that.* As he left, everyone traded significant glances.

"Is it-?" Kurama asked. BHS nodded.

"Yeah."

***

Someone's POV *I ain't tellin' who, yet!*

I turned, and snarled at the other behind me, baring fangs I knew to be sharpened to a killing edge, as were my claws. The other hadn't left me since she'd found me, even though I told her over and over that I didn't want her with me. I just wanted her to leave me alone, let me die in peace. But she wouldn't. When I was laying in a cave, starving and weak, she brought me food, hunted for me, and made sure I drank and ate. Then, when I had regained enough strength, she forced me out of the cave, and made me walk around until I'd gotten strong enough to travel long distances. When she was hunting for me and bringing me food, I was grateful to her, but I started hating her when she made me travel, when she wouldn't leave me.

At first, she was oddly urgent, and I didn't know why. All I knew was that she wanted to get away, and fast. Whenever I slowed, or tried to stop, she'd nip my heels, make me go on, until I was exhausted. Finally, I simply collapsed. By then, we had been traveling for five days, hunting and eating on the go. Finally, she let me rest. That was the first time she tried to speak to me. When I didn't respond, she thought I was being stubborn and sulky, and told me to stop. When I merely gave her a quizzical look, she shook her head and gave up. After a few days, it occurred to her. She asked if I could talk. I looked at her, and shook my head.

Her eyes widened at that. Obviously, she had only half expected an answer. Oh well, it wasn't my fault, was it. I wished I could at least tell her why. I owe her that much, at least, for saving my life. Then, I wanted to be saved. I shook my head, getting these thoughts away. I preferred not to think about it. It made me feel odd, knowing that I owed her, and seeing how I treated her. But, I just didn't care anymore. I wanted her to leave me alone, let me die in peace. I didn't have anything to live for. I was just wandering, lost.

I have said that I told her to leave me. This is true. However, I didn't use words to tell her, but my body language.

And she wouldn't leave me, wouldn't stop looking out for me. And I didn't even know her.

***

Normal POV

Karasu walked across a large area, filled with nothing but rubble, some of which were great stone and metal slabs, even taller than he was. He felt that strangely familiar aura getting closer, and, when he was within a few feet of it, separated from whoever was giving off the aura by a stone slab, he stopped.

"Do I really want to see her?" he asked himself. She was obviously drastically different. He wasn't sure if he wanted to see her the way she might be… "Don't be stupid," he told himself. "It can't be so bad." Steeling himself for what he might see, he stepped out from behind the slab, and stopped dead. He'd expected nothing like what he saw.

The first thing he noticed was a raggedy animal, which looked like a cross between a wolf and a cat. The fur on her underside, which had once been cream-colored, was a sort of sickly yellowish color, streaked with blood in places, and what had once been tawny had turned to a blood-streaked, dirty-orange color. She was far too thin, with her ribs, hips, and shoulders sticking out sharply, seeming as if they would cut through the pelt drawn tight across them. Her fur was tangled and dirty and matted, the mane-like ruff which had once flowed down her back and sides dirty and tangled as well. Her tail, bent oddly in two different places, dragged on the ground behind her, as if she didn't have the strength to lift it. Her big paws were worn and bloody, her claws chipped and broken.

Her left flank had been laid open to the bone, and through thick, dried blood, Karasu could catch a glimpse of her ribs. The wound hadn't healed well, or in fact, at all, and as she moved, it tore open again, bleeding. Her left ear was torn to ribbons, the right only a little better. Her round, orange eyes were exhausted and pain-filled. She saw him, and came to a halt, trembling as she stood, seeming on the verge of falling down.

"Good gods…" he whispered.

The other animal with her, this one more foxy than cattish, but still wolf-like, walked around her and stood next to her, pressing against her uninjured flank to keep her up. This animal was half a foot shorter than the other, closer to the size of an ordinary wolf. Her large, triangular ears, which were black with purple tips, twitched towards him. Her eyes were mingled black and purple, with no discernable pupils. Her legs were long and thin, with large paws, though they weren't as large as the other's.

Her elegant, triangular snout was caked with blood, though Karasu doubted it was her own. She wasn't much better than the first, but she was still better. She didn't seem to be as badly injured, although she walked as if she was favoring her left shoulder, since she tried not to move it. There was a small gash above one eye, and a healing wound on her flank, but other than that, and simple hunger and exhaustion, she seemed fine. Karasu noted that she was nearly opposite in coloring to the first animal, being black with purple tips, *i.e., tail, ears, paws*, whereas the first animal had brighter colors. This one had whiskers, unlike the other, long black whiskers, which twitched slightly.

The first animal snarled at him as he walked closer, and he paused at the sight of her long, razor-sharp, blood-stained fangs.

***

Someone's POV *same as before!*

The strange creature kept coming, even though I growled at it, and snarled again. It smelled male, and familiar, though I couldn't place where I'd seen it…him, before. He smelled of crow, and that smell made me hungry. I hadn't eaten in quite a while. But something about him gave me pause. It wasn't just that he looked familiar, but the way he looked…How he had no fur, only black hair *I recognized it as hair, and not fur* on his head. How he walked on two legs, with arms instead of forelegs, and hands and fingers instead of paws.

I suddenly remembered a time when I was different, when I walked like him, and had arms and hands and fingers. When I had to cover my body in cloth, because my fur just wouldn't do. But that was so long ago, the memory so faint and far away, that I couldn't get anything else out of it, and it soon passed, leaving me with none of those feelings I almost remembered. All I felt now was the pain from my wounds, the blood trickling down my side, the hunger and emptiness gnawing at my belly, and all I knew was the feel of the ground under my cut and bleeding paws, the feel and scent of the other who was with me pressing against my side, keeping me from falling down, and the scent of the man in front of me who smelled enough like food to make saliva drip onto the ground off of my fangs.

He walked close to me, ignoring the other who was with me growling, and my own growl becoming louder and more menacing, going from warning to threat. He knelt down beside me, putting his face near the level of my head, since I hadn't the strength to keep my head from drooping a bit. I turned, and looked straight into his eyes, which were violet. That color was so familiar to me…Why? I looked at him, letting the hunger I felt be plain in my gaze, since I couldn't speak to him of it. He didn't blink or turn away, but held my gaze, until several minutes later, we both dropped our gazes.

I looked back up at him, and he was hesitantly reaching out a hand to me. As that hand neared, time seemed to stand still, and I noted every little detail. Every line on his palm, his knuckles and nails, the thin scar tracing the underside of his wrist, how delicious and soft his pale, unprotected white flesh looked. I snapped at him, biting his hand, and drawing blood. I felt my teeth click together through his hand, and knew I had hurt him. I let go, looked at the blood dripping from the wounds I'd made.

"Kiiyra?" he said. The word meant nothing to me, but it stirred things in my memory. He reached out again, and again I bit his hand. This time, I ignored that feeling I got when I heard him make a small sound that told me I'd hurt him, and held on, worrying at his hand like I would a deer shank with a few shreds of meat clinging to it.

"Ahh!" he cried out, as I jerked my head from side to side, still growling, even though my teeth were buried in his flesh. He tasted good! The taste was sweet, a little bitter, and had a hint of something I didn't recognize, but surely wasn't objecting to! I could feel his pain, and it actually enhanced the taste, making me bite down harder. His blood flowed into my mouth, and wet my muzzle. His hand was trembling, and his eyes were wide with two different kinds of pain. I let go of his hand, captivated by that other pain in his eyes, and whined in apology. Well, I tried to, but the sound that came out was a short, raspy sound that grated on my own ears, and so I quickly stopped, frightened that I could make a noise that sounded so…wrong.

I unconsciously licked my lips, wanting to taste his blood again. I looked at him, and wondered why he had reached out to me a second time, knowing what would happen.

"Kiiyra," he said again, mournfully.

***

The second time she bit him hurt a lot more, and not just because she held on longer, worrying at his hand like a dog with a bone. When she let go, he could see the ragged puncture wounds her fangs had made, the wounds her worrying had torn even larger bit him hurt a lot more, and not just because she held on longer, worrying at his hand like a dog with a bone. He could also see his blood dripping down his hand, as well as staining her teeth and muzzle. He saw her lick her lips with that satisfied, and at the same time guilty air.

"Kiiyra," he said softly, for a third time, his heart breaking as he looked at the creature the woman he had once loved had become. Even though he had loved her long ago, and they had been together for only a short time, he still cared about her, and didn't like seeing her like this. He looked at the other animal, wondering who she was. Those colors seemed vaguely familiar, though he couldn't quite place them.

He reached out, and put his hand on Kiiyra's head, gently scratching the base of her ears. Her eyes widened, and then she let them close, and started purring, a rough, catch-and-slide sound that vibrated her throat and chest.

"Kiiyra," he said again. "Eta ka, ono mi?" Tell me, what has happened? "Ii…ii efa no katu?" Why…why are you like this? Kiiyra said nothing, merely looked at him. "Kiiyra," he said again, a bit urgently. "Kiiyra, Efron. Chi katch efa no dai," Kiiyra, Turn. I know you can. Kiiyra looked at him, and then closed her eyes, concentrating. Slowly, the animal transformed into a vaguely humanoid woman, covered with fur, cream on her chest and stomach and tawny everywhere else, with dirty, tangled copper hair that went to the backs of her knees. Her fur was dirty, tangled, and matted as well, and her tail looked broken. Her eyes were dull with weariness, pain, and hunger, glazed with fever. Her slightly protruding, snout-like nose, and her mouth and chin were all covered in blood.

Her left side was laid open to the bone, caked over with dried blood and dirt. Her ears were shredded, the right only a little better than the left. She was also completely naked, save for her fur, which covered her up enough not to really show anything, but still couldn't conceal the shape of her breasts, or conceal them, since of curse she had no shirt on. However, she could and did wrap her tail around her waist enough to cover herself up more there, although her fur was more than sufficient.

After all, she didn't completely lack modesty, although with this particular man, it really shouldn't have mattered. After all, they had been lovers. She looked at him, and after a moment, hugged him hard, pressing her head against his chest and closing her eyes, taking comfort in the scent and feel of the man who she'd cared for deeply, if not exactly loved. Slowly, the memories of whom and what she was were coming back, and she found herself liking them less and less. With shock, she realized who it was that had been following her this whole time, who it was that had saved her life.

She opened her mouth, but found she couldn't speak. Instead, she just pressed her face harder into Karasu's chest, tightening her hold on him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding onto her as if he were afraid she might vanish at any moment. When she started trembling, he stroked her hair, murmuring soothing words to her. He looked over her head to the other animal, a quizzical expression in his eyes.

That one grinned, and Turned, too, revealing herself to be a tall, painfully thin girl *well, teen, I guess*, with significantly less fur than Kiiyra. Actually, the only fur she had was on her black, purple-tipped fox ears, her wolfish tail and her fox-like feet, all of which were the same colors as her ears. Her spiky hair, the longest strands of which went to her shoulders, was also black tipped with purple. Her skin, most of which was showing, was pale, though not as pale as Karasu's. She seemed only slightly embarrassed at the fact that she had no clothing on. Karasu, however, could feel himself blushing as he forced his gaze not to wander, which it had a tendency to do normally. However, in this situation, the adolescent might not see it to be as innocent as it actually was.

"Any chance I could borrow your shirt?" she asked him in a surprisingly deep, low voice, which held a hint of a rasp, though not an unpleasant one. Her eyes showed amusement, but her voice held no emotion whatsoever.

"Um, sure," Karasu said, letting go of Kiiyra long enough to remove aforementioned garment and toss it to the demon girl, who caught it and put it on. It went down to a little below her butt, looking more like a skimpy night-shirt than actual, useful clothing, but it covered her.

"Thank you," she said.

"Might I ask who you are?" Karasu questioned.

"My name's Foxfire. Actually, that's a shortened version, but I don't think you need my version number, do you?" she told him.

"Version number?"

"I'm partly bionic," Foxfire told him. "And I'm surprised you didn't recognize me, Karasu. I was at the Tournament. I was one of the referees, remember?"

"Now I do," Karasu said, remembering the Tournament. Now that she mentioned it, he had seen her there.

"You know, Kiiyra, I think you should tell him," Foxfire said, walking past Karasu and Kiiyra to sit on a piece of stone.

Kiiyra's head snapped up, and she glared at Foxfire. The look softened, and she turned back to Karasu.

"Tell me what?" he asked.

"He really doesn't know," Foxfire said. "I'm surprised. I thought he would,"

"What don't I know?" Karasu persisted. Kiiyra looked away from him, and then swallowed. She stepped away from him, then tapped his shoulder to make sure he was looking at her. When she knew he was, she put her finger on her throat, and slashed it across, then opened and closed her mouth several times, never issuing a sound. She pantomimed talking, and then shook her head, slashing her finger across her throat again. That gesture brought Karasu's attention to a thin, deep scar there, where the fur had grown in white.

"You can't talk?" he asked. She nodded, and proceeded to sign at him, her fingers flashing through intricate symbols.

"…What?!" Karasu asked, not believing her at first. She pointed to Foxfire, and went through the symbols again. Behind the mask, Karasu was gaping at her.

"How could…She can't…She's…You…I…You never…" he trailed off, not knowing what to say. He looked from Foxfire to Kiiyra, back to Foxfire and then looked at Kiiyra again.

"You are telling me," he said, "that she is my daughter?! Our daughter?!"

Kiiyra nodded.

"…Care to tell me why I wasn't informed that I have a child?"

***

Drof: Oohhoo, betcha weren't expectin' that!

Karasu: ……..

Drof: Exactrly. Now, if you want the rest, *and to know what's up with Bakura and Nikio*, you have to review!!!