Fox Love:
Chapter 5- Sword
The morning dawned bright and cold, a sure sign that fall was approaching. In fact, the first day of autumn was not far off, the day after this. The sun's bright rays shone into the sheltered cave, illuminating the peaceful faces of all who slept there. They touched the golden head of the girl, who slept with her back against the wall, a red-headed boy in her lap, his locks aflame with the early morning rays. It flowed over the greased black hair of the Spirit Detective, who was slumped against a boulder, making his hair gleam with the piercing beams. The head of his rival, a few feet away was also painted with the golden streams, his carrot-colored head on fire, his face turned away from the light disturbing his deep slumber. The only person who was not touched by the serene rays was the fire-demon. Huddled away beneath his cloak in the farthest corner of the small cave, he was sleeping in shadow, his spikey head untouched by the light.
The beams fell into the eyes of the Detective and wakened him, yawning and stretching he rose to his feet and peered around, observing the people around him, then sweeping to the world outside. The rocky valley outside was awash in gold, the rocks gleaming with the dawn's first rays. He smiled to himself and kicked the sleeping form of Kuwabara next to him. "Wake up!"
Kuwabara jumped and yelled, waking the rest of the small company up. "What was that for?!"
Hiei grumbled and glared daggers at the orange-headed boy, mumbling something about idiots and never letting normal people sleep. Haven strecthed and rubbed her eyes, trying to stand up, then, feeling the heavy weight in her lap, remembering the events of the night before. She tapped Kurama's head, none too gently, and he shot up into a sitting position. Haven grimaced as she tried to stand up, and felt her legs almost give way beneath her. They tingled and it felt as if darts were being shot through them whenever she moved.
"Well!" she thought to herself
Kurama rubbed his eyes and then his whole face, feeling the dried sweat that coated it and making a face. "What happened?" he wondered aloud.
"You were delirious," Haven stated in a flat, emotionless voice. "You had an extremly high fever all night and were sweating buckets."
Kurama nodded, his face slightly pale. "All I remember is someone singing," he mused, more to himself then anyone else. "It sounded...like an angel..."
Ruby, chocolate, and obsidion eyes all focused on the kitsune girl, whose cheeks flamed once again, and whose fists clenched. Kurama caught their looks and glanced up at Haven.
"That...was you?" he asked in a whisper.
Her sharply angled face hardened, and her eyes glinted in the sunlight. "So?" she said, her voice hard and defensive.
"I had...no idea you could...sing like that," murmured, once again, more to himself then anyone else. She snorted and walked outside, hands in her pockets, head held high. Kurama sighed and buried his head in his hands.
"Why..." he mumbled to his hands.
"Hm?" Yusuke replied indifferently, rifling through his pack.
"Why is she so cold? So...unfeeling...She keeps pushing everyone away, hiding her true feelings. Never letting us see the real her. She like...an ice statue. Pretty, but hard and cold."
"Hn," Hiei replied.
Yusuke shrugged. "Maybe she's got something to hide. A secret. You know, we really know nothing about her except that she's a kitsune, or at least part, and that she has that Chaos Whistle thing."
"True," Kurama replied absently, his face puzzled. "Still, I think she's been hurt or something. Once, back when we first met her, when Koenma was explaining about The Chaos Articles, she let her walls down for a split second and I glimpsed suffering, pain, and...sorrow. Then yesterday, it happened again. I saw the same things in her eyes." He rubbed his own eyes tiredly and looked over at the cave entrance where Haven had disappeared into the world of early dawn. "I will crack her walls," he thought viciously. "tear down her defenses. Whatever it takes!" The last thought was spoken with such vehemence his mind seemed to echo the thought around and around in his head.
The vows continued to reecho in his head as he rose, somewhat unsteadily, and walked outside, searching for a stream to wash his face off in.
***************
"We're almost there," Haven announced to the tired, bedraggled group.
They all nodded, but said nothing, their weary thoughts all focused on putting one foot in front of the other. The prospect of dry beds and hot food seemed almost too good to be true. Koenma had informed them that The Chaos Sword was somewhere in this area; rumors his spies had picked up had informed him that a particurly powerful ice demon posing as a human possessed it. They all had warnings to be careful with this demon, because this time there would be no one to come running at the sound of the Whistle of Desperation.
Haven walked in front of the others, her keen eyes always searching the way in front of them, not trusting anyone or anything. Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara followed close after, with Kurama, still weak and with a fever, lagged behind. His breathing was choppy and every once and a while he would rub his head or squeeze his eyes shut and massage his temples. At one point, he collapsed entirely and was hoisted onto Kuwabara's broad, strong back for the remainder of the time it took them to reach the small city where their salvation lie.
Three and a half hours later, the tired fighters collasped onto their beds in a small hotel, their bodies weary, and their minds fogged with the sleep that soon overtook them, sweeping them away to a world of half-realities and strange promises, where they drifted in peace for the next few hours until the next challenge presented itself.
***************
"Well now what do we do?" Kuwabara asked hours later. The five of them were all seated on various pieces of furniture in the boys' room, trying to figure out what to do next.
"How am I supposed to know?!" Yusuke exclaimed, punching his fist into the matress he was lounging on.
Hiei, perched on the windowsill, snorted loudly.
Kurama, sitting on the end of his bed, flopped back, with his arms beneath his head and mumbled something.
"What?" Yusuke asked him.
"I was just thinking aloud," came the soft reply. "Don't you think it's weird that The Chaos Whistle just stopped like that the other day?"
"So...?" came the impatient reply from the fire demon.
"So maybe it means there is no other Chaos Article in this area. I mean, if there was, wouldn't it be picking it up?"
Haven stood up from the chair she was slouched in and walked out of the room. She returned moments later, the Whistle in hand. She sat back down and held the Whistle out for everyone to see. It was silent and still.
Everyone sat back with a sigh. "Now what?" she asked sardonically.
"I just don't get it!" Yusuke shouted, getting up and stomping around the room. "Why the hell did it just stop like that?! The Article couldn't just disappear!"
Haven regarded him calmly, shrugging her slender, well-muscled shoulders, visible through the black sleeveless shirt she was wearing.
Kurama sighed and rubbed his eyes, his fever had mostly gone away, only a small trace remaining, just enough to annoy him. "Let's all just get something to eat and see what comes next."
"Food! Alright!" Kuwabara shouted, leaping up from the floor.
Hiei and Haven both rolled their eyes in identical gestures and also got up. Just then, a famliar high-pitched humming filled the small room and filled the highly tuned ears of the people in it. They all looked over at Haven, who now had a death-grip on the Whistle.
She smiled grimly to herself and looked up at the group. "I guess it's not gone after all," she said smartly. "Let's go." With blinding speed she shoved her way past the boys and started out of the room.
The others followed close on her heels. Kuwabara stared after them and sighed. Another missed meal.
***************
"Come on! Faster!" Haven growled at her companions. They had begun to lag behind as the Whistle began yanking at her harder and faster.
The others quickened their pace to a light jog and trailed after her, observing everything; eyes everywhere at once, ears straining for any foreign sound. They were on the outskirts of the small city and had been walking for close to an hour. The Whistle was yanking hard once more, this time it was Yusuke who walked up to help the kitsune girl keep a grip on it. The group spun sharply around a corner and then were lead right up to the door of a dingy looking warehouse.
"Must...be...in there," Yusuke grunted.
Kuwabara shoved past him and shouldered the door open, letting it fall with a crash. Haven and Yusuke followed with the others right behind. Once inside the Whistle rose to an ear-splitting pitch, almost above the hearing range of the humans present, and jerked one final time, then went still. The screeching stopped soon after and Yusuke let go. Haven stuffed the object quickly into her pack and slung it off her shoulder and into a corner.
Kuwabara, who had been looking around, gave a start and shifted into ready stance, his Spirit Sword flaring up immediately. The others were instantly on alert, Haven and Hiei's swords flying into their hands faster then human eyes could follow. Kurama had a rose in hand and the tip of Yusuke's finger was glowing blue.
"I sense something, guys," he stated unnecessarily. "There's something here."
Five pairs of keen eyes scanned the room, peering into shadows and wanting to see through walls. Haven walked forward a little, but stopped when she heard footsteps. Immediately her sword was up and she let out an involuntary growl. The heavy footsteps came from the shadows of the far corner, growing closer and louder every second. Harsh breathing was heard, and something glinted in the weak light. Eyes straining, the fighters stood their ground, waiting to see what form their foe would take. Waiting and watching they all flinched when a massive beast finally stepped into the light. He stood almost as tall as the warehouse roof, his blue-tinged skin stretched tight over a finely-muscled body which moved with little grace, but clearly showed the power it was capable of. Clawed hands clutched a huge sword, the thing they had glimped moments before. But...
"Is that the Chaos Sword?!" Kuwabara shouted.
The demon laughed, shaking the roof overhead and causing the smaller forms to wince. "No, fool. This is." And he pulled on a tiny belt slung around his waist, pulling free another sword, this one dwarfed by his massive hands. It glowed faintly, a greenish light which seemed to dance like mist over the sharp blade.
"The Sword," Haven breathed, and charged forward.
Chapter 6- Whistle
