The small group of friends carried themselves deeper into the forest. Ruby was on the lead while Kuwabara closed the line. He was looking around rapidly like in any minute something would attack in any second now. The others were also wary, but not that paranoid. Either way, no one dared to say a word for a long while-.
"Ah man, if this is unbelievable." Yusuke complained as a huge yawn escaped through his mouth. "I wish I got more sleep though."
"I wonder how Keiko will react once she finds out we disappeared again. . ." Miyuki thought out loud, making her brother go pale while a yelp escaped from him.
"Uh-oh, I totally forgot about her. " He said in a panicked voice.
"Don't worry Yusuke, I am sure Botan will explain it to her." Ruby reassured as she turned around to face the male spirit detective.
"Well, I hope you're right." The teen replied as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "I hate to pull out another Houdini on her like last time."
"Let's keep our personal information as quietly as we can." The redheaded fox demon said with a serious tone. "There might be a chance that someone is listening to us and maybe, later on, use that small information against us."
"Like Suzaku did with Keiko. . ." Miyuki quietly concluded earning a small nod of agreement from Kurama. Now realizing this, the black-haired girl lowered her head down in shame, because she had already made that mistake without thinking. She even scolded at herself for letting her mind slip into the moment of carelessness.
"But why are we even in the beginning of the forest from the get-go?" Kuwabara asked. "Why didn't that portal thing just you know-. " Not wanting anything bad to happen, to Miyuki's displeasure she quickly slapped her hand over Kazuma's mouth. Kuwabara sent the girl an annoyed look while his cheeks heat up by the fact that his previous crush's hand is sealing his lips shut.
"As Rosehead said, that magician might listen to every word that comes out of our mouth, so don't you freaking give him any funny ideas, got it?!" She pointed out while giving Kazuma a threatening look that made the orange-haired guy shut up.
"R-right." Stammered the blushing Kazuma as Miyuki slowly removed her small hand from the teen thug's mouth. Once it was finally off of him Miyuki immediately pulled out a small amount of water from her bota bag to wash her hands from her actions.
"Ew. . . " She silently murmured to herself. Hiei's ears caught that, making him roll his eyes at the female Spirit Detective.
Back in the Ruins of Zankoku's castle, the sorcerer was watching the intruders coming with his daughters kneeling before his throne.
"Shall we greet them, father?" Asked one of the daughters in a sickly wicked and sweet tone as her golden eyes gleamed under the shadow's cover.
"There is no need for that my dear Mara." Said the father cooly. "For the time being at least." With that Zankoku turned back to his staff's crystal ball to see the Spirit Detectives and their friends reaching the river that is known as the Tears of Lost Souls. A playful and wicked smirk began to paint it's way up to the demon man's face as his fingers with long claws and two golden nail guards on his pinky and ring finger twirled around the crystal ball's surface that soon began to sparkle like the lake that the small team is about to reach.
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"Oh, would you look at that, some nice and refreshing water." My dimwit of a brother commented sarcastically. "Just what I needed."
"It's not just a regular river though is it?" Rosehead asked/stated curiously as he turned to my water-bender partner.
"Yup." Ruby replied with a small nod. "This river is known as the Tears of the Lost Souls, where many victims had lost their lives due to the creatures that are living under those waters."
"What, like sirens?" Carrot Top asked making me let out a sigh while mentally facepalming at him.
"Let's just focus on getting across this river." I suggested as I pointed at our 'B' point. "Can you lend me a hand with that?" I turned directly to Ruby who gave me a mischievous grin.
"With pleasure." She replied coolly making me shake my head in amusement but let a small smirk slip there. We positioned ourselves, and with one harsh wave motion and punch in the air, an ice bridge appeared on the water's surface. It only appeared half-way, so both of us had to step onto our bridge and run over to extend it.
"Careful, it's a bit slippery." Warned Ruby as she walked ahead with me right on her heels.
"Impressive." I hear Kurama comment it to us while I turned to the boys who looked amazed, besides Hiei of course. He didn't show anything on his blank face.
"H-hey wait a second, are you sure it's a good idea?" Kazuma suddenly exclaimed. "I mean, if there is anything in there, those might jump out and attack us."
"Hn, if you are that scared then why don't you just stay here while we do all the work." I hear Hiei comment, earning a growl from Carrot top who got right into Shadow Lord's face.
"Can you quit your snarky bitching for one-second Short Stuff?!?!" Pumpkin Lord snapped at the demon who stood there with a blank and calm expression.
"Once you bought yourself a brain." He replied in a monotone tone. I snorted at that but then shook my head in amusement.
"You little-!"
"Hey ladies, we don't have time for whining! We have work to do!" I called them out, making the two look at me with a glare while I just returned it with a lazy eyebrow.
"I swear these boys are gonna be the end of me." I commented under my breath, earning giggles that bubbled up from Ruby. I just sighed and helped her finish the ice bridge.
"Come on slowpokes! We don't have all day!" Ruby exclaimed as she and I turned to the boys' direction. After watching my dipstick brother and Carrot Top whine about the water and some more they soon began to walk toward our direction. I was about to just walk ahead to the other side, but the burning feeling on my left shoulder and the feeling inside my gut stopped me from moving an inch.
I began to frantically move my eyes over many directions, then I noticed some sort of energy. . . and it's coming from the water behind Ruby. I pull out my kunai knives and threw one at her direction.
"DUCK!" I shouted at my friend who obeyed within a second. On cue, a giant and a hideous snake-like creature with a human-like body and black ink-hair like tentacles came out of those waves and got hit by my knife in the neck area. Before it can do anything more, Ruby trapped her in ice and let her shank back down.
[Not my art. All credit to the artist.]
Suddenly I feel a presence behind me and I was about to use my knife and water-bending abilities as well, but unfortunately, I was not fast enough, and the next thing I knew my limbs were tied down by one of those creatures hair. I screamed full voice as I attempted to use water-bending on it, but I couldn't move my body, because those damn long tentacle hairs were as strong as wire ropes. I hear my friends cry my name while I felt a snake tongue licking my neck as huge hands with long vampire claws forced my head to tilt to the other side, stretching the muscles on my neck like some gummy band. However, my struggles were cut short when I felt the hair and claws fall off of me, and now I was finally free. I looked at my limbs and then followed the sound of someone landing on the ice platform. I turned to my rescuer and saw it was Hiei. He looked at me for a brief moment and I quickly gave a nod as a thank you.
"RUN!" The voice of my brother snapped me out of that small moment of time freeze. I didn't object and just after my teammates with water extensions as my arms and weapons. On our long way to our 'B' point, we were slicing those monsters away from our reach. But this was nowhere near the end of our problems.
"There are too many of them!" I hear Kazuma yell as he kept on using his Spirit sword.
When I cut half one of those snake beasts in half I accidentally turned around to see the beginning of the bride.
"SHIT!" I exclaimed as I noticed the many snakes coming towards us fast. I looked over my shoulder to see how the others are doing.
"We're trapped!" I hear Shuichi cry out as he cut the creatures into pieces with his rose whip. However, it didn't matter though because once the front line is dead, the new ones come right after it.
I placed one foot firmly to the ground then raised my hands up high in the air. Turning my attention to the group that is following us behind I slapped them away with one giant water whip.
"Alright, I have enough of you noodle brains!" Yusuke snapped before his fist began to glow brightly. "SHOTGUN!" He fired his Spirit Weapon at the monsters that were soon fell back into the water. However, Yusuke's attempt was in vain as more came up to the surface of the water.
"Oh, give me a Break!" He complained as he began to punch them again, probably because his attack drained him.
Out of nowhere, I was suddenly pushed away by something. Or someone. As soon as my body made contact with the cold surface, I snapped my head to the direction to see Shuichi and then within a second, he was tackled down by those snake beasts, pushing him right into the water.
"NO!" I cried out in horror.
"URAMESHI!" Kazuma's yell made me look at his direction for a small split second, only to see Hiei slice the head off of Kuwabara's attacker. However, he slipped on the ice bridge's edge and soon another water monster revealed itself and dragged the demon boy down into the water by the ankle.
"HIEI!" Yusuke and Kazuma shouted as they punched away one of those bastards.
That's it!
"Ruby, get the boys to the shore! NOW!" I instructed her in a commanding voice. I didn't wait for her reply, I just cut off one of the snake creatures' head and then dived right into the water to save my other two friends.
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"MIYUKI!?!" Kuwabara and Yusuke shouted and was about to go after the girl, but Ruby stopped them by grabbing each of them by the waist.
"What the-?! What are you doing?!" Yusuke demanded angrily as he tried to get out of the girl's hold while Kuwabara was a froze and a blushing mess.
"Hold on tight!" The water-bender girl ordered sternly before stomping her feet onto the ice. The surface suddenly began to crack, creating a circle around the small group of humans and spirit. Then with another foot-stomping later, all three of them were shot out to the sky like rockets and soon they landed on the dirt platform, not so gracefully but painfully.
The ice they once stood was shattered into pieces while the three tired and wounded people from the group panted and tried to catch their breath.
"What the hell was that for?!" Yusuke snapped enraged at the female figure who was still panting while her whole body was shaking from exhaustion and to the coldness.
"We need to save them!" Kuwabara chimed in and was about to get up along with the male Spirit Detective only to fall on their butts from the exhaustion and the pain that took over their body.
"Damn it!" Yusuke exclaimed weakly as he held onto his side that had a huge claw mark on it.
"We can't. . . " Ruby breathed out shakily. "If we do that, then we will get killed as well. All we can do now is trust in the others and hope for the best."
"But what about you?!" Yusuke turned to her. "Can't you just freeze those jerks in the water?"
"I could, but then Hiei, Kurama, and Miyuki would end up inside the ice." Ruby pointed out.
"But we also can't just sit here and do nothing! " The male Spirit Detective insisted. "Let's just blast them with my shotgun and - !"
"I know it would be helpful. . . " Ruby replied sadly. "But being stubborn and following them to our doom won't do much good either. We can't waste any more energy, we have to trust them."
Meanwhile, before the three remaining members' escaped from the cursed waters, Kurama and Hiei were trying their best to free themselves from the water monsters' grasp. The fire demon managed to cut himself free with his sword, and immediately he swam to the redheaded demon who was having difficulties with his attacker. Hiei's freedom didn't last long when another snake beast grabbed onto him with its hair and began to drag him down deeper and deeper. Both demon's body went weaker while their consciousness slowly started to slip away. Their lungs were burning with pain, begging for fresh air, but it was an impossible wish at the moment.
Luckily for Kurama, with all the strength and sense that was still within him, he pulled out a seed of a Death Plant and sewed it inside the monster's body. With his spirit energy, he manipulated it, and soon the plant stabbed through the skin of the monster from the inside, making his blood spread out into the water while floating in it, finally dead. With Hiei, unfortunately, he had a hard time getting out of the snake's grasp. His lips suddenly parted away and air bubbles began to escape. His body slowly starts to give in but his spirit refused to do the same. However, before he can do much, a kunai suddenly stabbed through the monster's back of the head, making the weapon's sharp tip reveal itself in the snake creature's mouth. Then it's body was tossed away by a powerful push, revealing Miyuki who had an air bubble around her head.
Hiei's eyes were glued on her figure, frozen by surprise before his stare suddenly went down to a small item that is hanging around Miyuki's neck. Her chain necklace with the Phoenix ring. Without wasting any second the female Spirit Detective grabbed a hold of his right hand and pulled him along while swimming toward the redheaded demon. However, as soon as the two got to the unconscious Kurama, Hiei also slipped into the same state with the knowledge that his rival and teammate saved his life.
Back in the shore, the three intensely waited for their friends to come out, but all they saw was the now calm waters rippling peacefully like nothing is in there.
'Come on guys!' Yusuke mentally prayed, but received no response. . . Not until like five seconds later, when suddenly bubbles began to rose up to the water surface, that soon began to increase. Then miraculously, three figures shot out of the water with a help of a water tornado. They land harshly to the shore. Miyuki was breathing heavily while dropping down the two unconscious boys to the ground.
"Guys!" Yusuke cried out in relief as he, Kuwabara, and Ruby rushed over to the rest of their teammates.
Meanwhile, Miyuki's trembling body rose from the dirt and looked at her friends. She turned Hiei's body first so he was lying on his back, then she tilted his head upward with one hand under his neck. She placed the other one above his chest then move it upward to his mouth.
Soon she lifted it in a small pull motion and the water that once filled Hiei's lungs was now outside of the system. A good fit of cough followed right after and soon the demon finally got some air. He groggily lifted his eyelids, revealing his scarlet red orbs that soon met with Miyuki's dark-brown ones. Relieve washed over the girl's face as she saw the fire demon awake and fine. And for that matter, she couldn't help but let that relieve represent itself into a small smile, that for some reason made the fire demon's heart skip a beat.
"Is everyone alright?" Kuwabara asked as the other half finally got there. Ruby's feet immediately carried themselves toward Kurama and copied the same action that Miyuki had just done.
To answer the question, Miyuki replied with a nod of her head while having a hard time keeping herself awake. The fact that her body was now as cold as ice didn't help much either.
"Phew, for a second there I thought I was gonna get a heart attack." Yusuke commented. "Don't scare me like that Miyu."
"Oh, shut up!" Miyuki breathed out as her once racing heart had finally calmed down along with the adrenaline rush.
Kurama gasped then that turned into a fit of coughs. He opened his eyes and his emerald orbs were drawn themselves into the beauty of Ruby's dark- chocolate brown ones.
"Are you okay?" The Water-bender girl asked with concern filling her coffee-bean coloured eyes.
"I'm. . . fine. . ." Kurama replied weakly as he sat up with the help of Ruby. "Thank you Ruby. . ." He gave a thankful smile, which caused the redhead's saviour to turn red, that almost matched with his hair.
"It was nothing really." The girl replied with a gentle smile as she turned away shyly. "Beside's Miyuki did all the work."
"Huh?" The redhead hummed questioningly as his gaze turned to his childhood friend who was helping up Hiei get back on his feet. The sight made him smile a little while Ruby wrapped his arm around her neck while the other one went to his waist so he can steady himself.
"Let's get away from this place before those Nagas come back up and eat us!" The water-bender girl suggested as she dragged Kurama along with her.
"Agreed!" Yusuke agreed before the whole team began to run into the woods, continuing with their journey to the Castle of the Nightmare King, who had seen the entire fight unfold through his own ice-cold eyes.
"It seems they're not ordinary humans." One of her daughters, with the blue warrior uniform, observed.
"Indeed. . . " The King of Nightmares agreed. "But even with traitors by their sides and their powers combined, they won't stand a chance against my Fury! " He slammed the end of his staff against the floor, creating a small mark of a hole on it.
"When what shall we do father?" Mara asked curiously but also with an ecstatic and devilish tone since she had been waiting eagerly for new 'playmates'.
"Patience my child." The father figure said sternly to his warrior of a daughter. "We will welcome our guests into our little home soon enough, but for now, I want you two to focus on your training and prepare before they arrive. Is that clear?"
"Yes, father!" Both daughters replied in perfect sync before getting up and leaving the throne room. However, the daughter with the magenta orbs looked over her shoulder unsurely, and with that one last glance, she finally walked away with that heavy feeling inside her chest that is telling her what her father is doing is not right. . .