Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Goddess Tears ❯ Behind the Cascading Waters ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Chapter Four
"Behind the Cascading Waters"
by: Silver Nightingale

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters so please don't sue me.

AN: Thanks for the 10 people who read the previous chapter. Well, here's the next one!

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The steady rhythm of the hard rain had begun to cease slowly. The tears of nature gently dropped down from the luscious green leaves of the plants. A refreshing breeze blew by the entire surrounding, revitalizing the damages that the rain had caused.


A shadowy figure blurred into view. He looked up the black-blue sky and narrowed his eyes. [Good. The rain had finally stopped] Hiei thought. He then frowned. [But now I'm back to where I had started...] he took a look around. [That stupid woman! First she had teleported me to an unknown vicinity, and now she hadn't even said anything to where I'm supposed to go or what I'm supposed to do.]
"Hn." Hiei muttered out loud. He started to walk towards a direction but then he stopped. He looked over his shoulder and gazed at the waterfalls behind him, he then returned his gaze back in front. He took a deep breath and started to walk to wherever his feet would take him.


Meanwhile, back to the other party...


"Urameshi, can't we even take a break? We've been walking for hours." Kuwabara complained.

"Quit your whining, Kuwabara!" Yusuke replied with an irritated tone.

"Yeah, just keep walking." Botan agreed.

Kuwabara sighed and muttered. "That's easy for you to say. You just ride on your stupid little oar."

Kurama, who just happened to hear what Kuwabara had said, sweatdropped.

Botan frowned, "Did you say something, Kuwabara?" she asked angrily.

"Nothing." Kuwabara replied casually.

The four continued to follow the river down to its end. After some more minutes, their hard work had finally paid off. They had reached their destination at last.

"Wow..." Botan murmured.

Standing before them was the location of their first enemy; yet, they were all very amazed by the beauty of the cascading water.

"Wow! This place is so beautiful!" Botan squealed.

"Amazing!" Yusuke exclaimed with a smile.

"Ah... I wish Yukina were here... She would have loved it." Kuwabara mused.

Kurama smiled at the three. "I hate to break the spell that the waterfalls had cast on you three but... the mission?" he reminded.

Yusuke looked at Kurama, "Oh, yeah. I forgot about that." he replied.

Botan giggled, "Me, too." she admitted.

Kuwabara then turned to the three, "I wish Yukina could have seen this!" he stated. He then imagined what Yukina would say if she had seen the beautiful view.

/"Oh, Kazuma! This is so wonderful!" Yukina said softly.

Kuwabara laughed sheepishly, "Anything for my Yukina." he replied.

Yukina smiled warmly, "Thank you so much, Kazuma! You're so romantic." she stated.

"Yukina." Kuwabara said, taking the ice maiden's hands in his.

"Kazuma." Yukina replied, gazing directly in Kuwabara's eyes, which caused him to blush.

"Yukina." Kuwabara repeated. "Would you--"/

TOINK!

Kuwabara howled in pain. He looked at Botan, who was holding her oar. "Botan! Why you--"

"What?" Botan asked the carrot-top, adding an icy stare for emphasis.

Kuwabara glared back at Botan and soon, a glaring contest had begun.

"Break it up! Break it up, you two!" Yusuke stated.

Kurama nodded, "We have to confront our first enemy now." he reminded once again.

"Yeah!" Yusuke agreed. "You two could glare each other to death later."

With that said, the two finally broke their eye contact.

"That's better." Yusuke said in relief.

Kuwabara frowned and was about to say something to Yusuke but then Kurama interrupted.
"So, Botan? Do you have any information concerning the first location?" Kurama asked.

Botan looked at Kurama, "Well, Koenma managed to gather information: this location is called the 'Rainbow Cavern' and our first opponent would be the Water Goddess." she stated.

"Water Goddess, eh?" Yusuke echoed. "Well, let's see how tough this Water Goddess really is."

Kuwabara punched his palm, "Let's get it on! I'm more than ready!" he stated.

Botan smiled at Kuwabara, forgetting the past event. "Okay! Let's go then!"

"Hmm... Just a thought." Kurama suddenly said.

"Yup? What is it Kurama?" Yusuke asked the redhead.

"The first location is called the Rainbow Cavern, right?" Kurama questioned.

Botan nodded, "Yep! So?" she replied.

"So... how do we get there?" Kurama finally asked his question.

The other three sweatdropped.

Kuwabara and Yusuke looked at Botan for the answer.

"Well... umm... let's see," Botan thought aloud.

Kurama, Kuwabara and Yusuke looked at the deity expectantly.

"...I don't know." Botan replied as the rest of the party fell down.

"You don't know?" Kuwabara repeated.

Botan clapped her hands together, "Sorry." she apologized.

"You guys, we have a situation here." Kurama stated.

"We know." the two replied with a hopeless tone.

"Wait a minute!" Botan suddenly said. Kurama, Kuwabara and Yusuke looked at her. "I have an idea!"

"Well then, let's hear it." Yusuke prompted.

"It's a cavern, right?" Botan asked and received a nod from the other three. "So, if it's a cavern, and we're supposed to go to a waterfalls then..."

"Then?" Kuwabara repeated impatiently.

"Then, the said cavern should be behind the waterfalls." Botan stated.

"We kinda figured that one out already." Yusuke replied dryly.

"I know! I was just about to get to my point." Botan countered.

"Then get on with it! We don't have all day." Yusuke said, irritated.

Botan frowned but she continued, "So, we just need to find a way to get behind the falls." she finished.

Silence.

"What?" Botan asked.

"We already know that!" Yusuke exploded.

"Oh... you do?" Botan blinked innocently.

Yusuke's eyebrow twitched.

"I think we have to concentrate on finding a way to get down from here, first." Kurama stated as he looked at Botan with a smile.

"AHA!" Kuwabara exclaimed.

"What is it this time?" Yusuke muttered to himself.

"Why don't we just ride on Botan's oar and enter the waterfalls one by one?" Kuwabara suggested.

"Now, why didn't I think of that?" Kurama asked himself.

"For once in your life, you've became pretty useful!" Yusuke replied in surprise.

"But, how do we get behind the waterfalls? Falling water is not that gentle." Botan questioned.

"Simple." Kurama said. "The passenger can just use his energy as a temporary shield."

"Yeah!" Yusuke nodded. "You're such a genius, Kurama!"

Kurama shook his head. "If it hadn't been for Kuwabara's plan, I might not have thought of it at all."

"Still the same polite Kurama we have here." Kuwabara stated with a laugh.

"What are we waiting for?" Yusuke asked. "Let's get this plan going!"

After the party had successfully executed their plan, they had finally managed to set foot in the cavern.

"I hope we did not let our opponent sense that we have already entered their territory..." Kurama mused.

Botan patted the redhead on the shoulder, "Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine." she assured.

Kurama nodded. "Yes, but we must still be very careful."

Suddenly, a wave of water manifested out of nowhere and headed straight for them. The four had managed to evade the attack. Then, clapping could be heard.

"Yay!" a cheerful female voice exclaimed.

"Who are you?" Yusuke asked, very alert.

The figure finally showed herself. Her sapphire hair was tied back behind a simple black ribbon and her eyes were in a shade of cheerful jade. She giggled in a childish manner. "Hi! Welcome to my cavern! It's really pretty, right?" she asked the group. "I was really happy that you guys managed to evade my attack! You guys are so cool!" She then gave two V-signs.

The party sweatdropped. "Who is she?" Kuwabara asked the others in a low tone.

"Never mind that. Why is she so perky and childish?" Yusuke asked, scratching his head. " I don't get it."

"Is she a sister of yours, Botan?" Kuwabara asked the deity.

"Of course she's not, idiot!" Botan replied in irritation.

Kurama shook his head softly. He then took three small steps forward. "I am Minamino Shuichi, better known here as Kurama--"

"Really? Really? Really?" the childish goddess asked the redhead with a dreamy smile on her face. "Ooh! Cool! Are you really Kurama? 'The' Youko Kurama? 'The' legendary Youko Kurama? 'The' infamous Youko Kurama? Huh? Huh?"

The party sweatdropped again. "Ah... yes." Kurama replied with a smile. [I don't understand.] He then recalled Botan's exact words when she first came into the Ramen Shop to tell them about the new trouble. /The enemies which you will face would be very different from the previous ones... plus, we don't have any data regarding any one of them... no one who had ever challenged them ever lived to tell.../ He looked at the girl standing before him. [She does not seem that bad... but of course, beauty has its dangers...]

"Yay! I'm really, really happy!" she then gave Kurama a handshake. "I'm so honored!"

Kurama smiled again, "I am also honored to meet you--" he paused, suddenly remembering that they had not yet given any proper introductions.

The goddess giggled, "Oh yeah. Let me introduce myself." she then smiled. "I am Nateki, the keeper of the water gem. I control... what else? The element of water! Yay!" she then laughed and clapped at her own introduction.

Yusuke's eyes became bigger. [She is freaking me out. Maybe that's why no one has ever managed to get out alive... maybe they died along with their sanity.]

"So!" Nateki interrupted Yusuke's thought. "What are all of you guys doing here?"

Botan smiled at the goddess. "We're here to borrow the water gem. You see, the Demon World, the Spirit World and the Human World is really getting out of balance for an unknown reason. We need to gather the gems in order to straighten things out." Botan explained.

"Oh? Is that so" Nateki smiled. "Okay. Here it is."

"Eh?" the party chorused, not believing the chain of events unfolding before their very eyes.

Nateki snapped her fingers and a wonderful gem blue sapphire gem appeared. "Here. Take it." she stated happily.

The party sweatdropped.

Kurama then cautiously approached the goddess. He reached out for the gem but then, it vanished. [What?]

"Oh! I forgot! I'm supposed to fight you all first." she stated.

[I knew that it was too good to be true] Kurama thought...

"What? Oh c'mon! Can you please just lend us the jewel? Pretty please?" Kuwabara mock begged.

"Yeah, we promise to return it." Botan added.

Nateki shook her head. "Nope. I need to test your skills first, to see if you guys are really worthy for my gem."

"Okay then. I'll take you on." Yusuke said, walking towards Nateki.

"Are you sure? Do you really think that you could beat me?" Nateki questioned the other.

"Hell yeah!" Yusuke said as Kurama sidestepped away from the scene.

Yusuke then ran towards the goddess and gave her a solid punch but to his surprise, she blurred away. "What the hell?"

"Blue Aqua Mirage!" Nateki's voice summoned. Instantly, bubbles encircled Yusuke's body.

"What the hell is this?" Yusuke wondered out loud, quite confused with all the swirling bubbles.

"Spiral Twist!" A wave of water twisted its way towards the confused Yusuke.

Yusuke gave a cry as the twisting mass of water had hit him square on his stomach. He then flew towards the cavern's cold, hard walls.

"Binding Chains!" Instantly, Yusuke's limbs were attached to the walls. [Darn! I didn't even hit her. I should've taken her seriously.]

"Yusuke!" the others cried out. Kuwabara ran towards Yusuke but was stopped by an unknown force. "I can't move. What is this?"

Nateki finally appeared again, "He obviously did not take me seriously. That's what happens to people who underestimate their opponent's power." she stated while giggling. She then looked at the other three members of the party. "Let's make this fight fair." she stated. "One-on-one."

Kuwabara's eyes widened. "Urameshi." he whispered.
"Yusuke! Hold on!" Botan shouted to the bounded boy on the wall.

"Don't worry, I know that Yusuke can do it." Kurama assured the others.

"Urameshi! You idiot! If you lose, I would personally kick your ass! You should never underestimate anything!" Kuwabara scolded.

Nateki smiled then walked towards Yusuke. "You're paralyzed, aren't you?"
Yusuke frowned, "Damn it!" he swore.

"Shall we finish this battle now?" Nateki asked. She then giggled, "I'll make this easy for you. I'll finish you up fast." she stated.

"Death--" water had begun to swirl around the young goddess' body and gathered at her palms. "--Tsunami!" she unleashed the raging water and aimed it straight at Yusuke's paralyzed body.


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AN: That's the next chapter. Thanks for reading. If you can spare a minute, then kindly leave a review. Until next chapter!