Ashes VI




Chapter 16 : Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold 




Hiei was gone… 
And Kurama might as well have died with him. His tall, slender form was slumped 
in a corner of the ledge, those emerald eyes dull, glazed - empty as if his mind 
was elsewhere, reliving those final moments over and over again… The others had 
given up trying to shake him out of his stupor, this was the only way he had of 
coping with his wrenching loss, short of breaking down completely. 
Prudently, Yuusuke had positioned himself nearby just in case the half-youko did 
lose it and tried something stupid. Everyone, including Kurama, had apparently 
underestimated the strength of the bond between them. One kept forgetting that 
before they ever became lovers, they were team mates and the best of friends… 
Outwardly, Kurama was unnaturally still and silent, unable to force himself to 
care enough to say anything to the others. Inside, he was silently screaming his 
denial, unable to accept the brutal fact, knowing that if he did - he would not 
be able to summon the will he needed to continue living. The empty years 
stretched out in front of him like an endless, barren road, without end…without 
hope. 
" Are they gone?" Kuwabara asked, his normally loud voice hushed. 
Lian nodded. Unable to get at them once the bridge was gone, Shurei had gone 
back - no doubt, searching for another way to ambush them. Turning to Yuusuke, 
she whispered in a hoarse voice, " What do we do now?" 
" We go on." There was steel in the human’s eyes. She realised that he was 
angry, barely keeping his rage in check. " We’ve come too far…it has cost us too 
much to turn back now." 
Sliding a tense glance in Kurama’s direction, Kuwabara asked, " What about…" He 
jerked his head towards the catatonic half-youko. 
That stumped even Yuusuke. " I don’t know," he confessed. 
Watching them with red-rimmed eyes, Rian wiped the half-dried tears from her 
cheeks with the sleeve of her blouse. Getting to her feet, she sniffed a few 
times while she walked towards Kurama’s corner. He did not look up when she 
knelt down in front of him, nor was there any visible reaction when she took his 
limp hand in her own. Kurama was dead to the world - nothing less than 
Armageddon would be able stir him, even then, he would probably welcome an end 
to it all. 
In an even, monotonous voice, Rian began to tell him about her parents - 
something she had hidden in the darkest, deepest pit of her heart. She told him 
about how she had been eight when they had undertaken the journey to her 
mother’s ancestral home in the west. Her other siblings had been away from home 
at the time - she had thought herself extremely lucky to be the centre of 
attention from her often-absent parents. 
Without a flicker of expression, she told him about the band of oni who had 
ambushed them when they were barely out of her father’s territory. She might as 
well have been talking about the weather when she told him, in that unnatural 
dead voice, about how her parents were murdered…how they had used her and then 
left her for dead. Lying there in the dirt, covered with blood - her parents and 
her own, she had willed herself to die…had wanted nothing better than to sink 
into the darkness, so that it no longer hurt so badly… 
When she finished, she looked up at Kurama…he was staring at her, his hand 
tightening around her own. 
" Why didn’t you die?" he asked, dully. 
" Because I found a greater reason to live," she told him, her eyes no longer 
empty but fierce. 
" Hiei’s dead…there’s nothing left for me." 
" You think dying will solve anything? There’s nothing in death but dust and 
emptiness. You don’t want death, you want the pain to stop, you want it not to 
hurt each time you draw a breath…" 
" I don’t need your advice. Go away." 
" You’re right, you don’t need any of that crap about forgiveness and closure. 
You need something else…it wouldn’t make the pain go away but you’ll feel a 
whole lot better." 
The first spark of green fire burst into life in Kurama’s eyes. " How - ?" 
Leaning forwards so that her words could not be heard by the others, she told 
him about how she hunted down each of the oni, one by one, until the last had 
died begging for mercy - as her mother had died. When she killed him, she 
remembered breaking down and crying for the first time since she was eight years 
old. 
Matter-of-factly, she whispered one word into his ear. 
" Payback." 
Besides her, Kurama stiffened, considering her words while he rubbed his hand - 
remembering the stroke of the fire demon’s fingers against his palm… There was 
the briefest surge of youki - his red hair bleeding into silver, his emerald 
green turning into the colour of old gold…still hurting but masked under the 
coldness of the centuries-old youko. 
Youko Kurama turned to her - Rian’s pain was old, muted by time while the fox’s 
suffering was like that of a new wound, fresh and still bleeding. Because they 
still hurt inside, both understood each other perfectly well. 
" Payback." The chill in his voice sent shivers down Kuwabara’s spine. 




Chapter 17 : Alive! 




Shurei’s head snapped back from the force of the blow. Without letting her 
expression change, she wiped away the blood from her split lip with the back of 
her hand. Under the circumstances, she considered herself fortunate. The two 
youkai she had sent to inform Hitoare of Jian’s escape and the lost of the 
Kokuryuha were dead - their twisted, burnt bodies lying in a corner of the room. 

" I expected more from you, Shurei," her lord told her in his chill tones. 
Standing a good six and half feet, Hitoare had once been considered handsome, 
even beautiful, among the females. However, a chance encounter with the 
corrosive blood of an acid worm had reduced his once attractive features to a 
scarred mass, the worst of the damage hidden under the steel mask that he wore 
over half his face. 
‘ I beg your forgiveness, my lord Hitoare." She let her head drop in a gesture 
of subservience, careful to keep the relief from her voice. The Kokuryuha was 
dead and the mad plan that Hitoare had conceived would never come to past. 
His hand twitched as if he wanted to hit her again, but finally, Hitoare turned 
away and sank into the throne-like chair that graced the main hall of his 
fortress. Shurei remained on her knees, bowing as she awaited his next command. 
His hands toyed idly with the dragon medallion that hung around his neck - a 
souvenir of a former expedition into the labyrinth. It was his key to harnessing 
the might of the Kokuryuha; the fire demons of long past had left behind their 
knowledge of using the power of dragon spirits in this artefact. 
" Tell me again, Shurei, what happened." 
In even tones, Shurei repeated what she had told him of the encounter with the 
intruders, her recognition of the youko sisters who had been among them. 
Prudently, she left out any mention of her cutting the ropes that supported the 
bridge - an act that had ultimately resulted in the fire demon’s death and the 
Kokuryuha destruction. She only said that their fighting had concluded in the 
collapse of the already flimsy structure. 
" You saw him fall?" 
" Yes, my lord, into the lava." 
Hitoare suddenly stiffened, his hands tightening around the arms of his chair. " 
He fell into the lava." A flicker of shrewd glee appeared in his eyes. Shurei 
felt a shiver of fear touch her - had he realised her deception? 
" The Kokuryuha fell into a river of *fire*." 
Throwing his head back, Hitoare began to laugh. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Kyouki was bored. 
Shurei had commanded him to stand guard over one of the lower exits where one of 
the lava rivers flowed pass. Normally, the heat from the lava would kill any 
other youkai but Kyouki was a fire demon, even then it drove him to seek cover 
in the cooler sections of the tunnel, while still giving him a good view of the 
corridor outside. 
Throwing a pebble into fast-flowing lava, he watched with weary eyes as a plume 
of flame exploded from the surface. He hated this part of his job - the fire 
demons’ sacred grounds gave him the shivers. He had the oddest feeling that the 
wrath of his ancestors was weighing down on him for daring to help outsiders 
defile this holy place. 
Flicking another pebble into the river, he yawned and wished for his relief 
guard to be here soon. He wasn’t sure how long before he died of this monotonous 
peace - he would have much rather be part of the pack of youkai hunting down the 
intruders. There was nothing quite like the smell of blood and the adrenaline 
pumping in his veins from the thrill of the kill. He smiled evilly - one of the 
youkai who had survived the first skirmish with the intruders had mentioned that 
there were females among them, Kyouki licked his lips in anticipation. 
There was a small explosion on the surface of the river as it belched out some 
foul-smelling gas. Wrinkling his nose, Kyouki moved deeper into the cave - no 
sense in forcing himself through this, what were the chances of the intruders 
finding themselves here anyway? 
Unnoticed by him, a small hand broke from the turbulent surface of the lava 
river and snagged the edge of the bank. A few moments later, another hand 
emerged and gripped one of the rocky protrusions. Muscles strained and bunched 
up as the slender arms pushed the rest of the slight form fully out of the 
thick, viscous liquid fire. 
Black hair was flattened against a delicate face. Shaking his head slightly, 
tiny glowing droplets of lava dropped to the rocky, uneven ground and hissed 
evilly. The sound caught Kyouki’s attention. With a sense of horrified 
fascination, the youkai watched the creature stretched to his full height of 
about four feet. It looked like another fire demon, but Kyouki knew of no such 
creature that could survive the impossible temperatures. 
The creature watched him carefully with all three eyes - his Jagan glowing 
eerily in the reddish reflection of the lava. Terror froze Kyouki’s throat - was 
this creature a punishment sent by the fire demons’ of long past? With his dark 
silhouette against the red-gold glow of the liquid flames, he was akin to a 
vengeful god descending from the heavens to smite down his disobedient 
worshippers. 
He whimpered as it strode towards him. Under normal circumstances, Kyouki would 
have attacked him but was paralysed by the fear born from the combination of the 
sight of such ethereal figure, who moved with a natural arrogance even when 
naked and weaponless, and the memory of the tales he had been told as a child of 
the mythical beasts that dwelled in the bowels of the earth. 
A few feet from him, the creature stopped. Without blinking, he drew back a 
fisted hand and slammed it into Kyouki’s jaw with enough force to snap the 
youkai’s head backwards. The fire demon crumpled wordlessly to the ground. 
Standing over the unconscious youkai, the creature raked critical eyes over the 
half-ragged clothes that the other one wore. 
" Hn. Not the right size." 




Chapter 18 : Back Together Again 




Jian pressed against the wall of the ledge, trying to appear as unobtrusive as 
possible as a horde of youkai passed just a few metres under his feet. He had no 
idea what was going on - about half an hour ago, Hitoare’s youkai had been 
streaming into the labyrinth from the entrance on their side of the volcano. It 
was apparent that they were searching for something, certainly not him, because 
most of the conversations he had eavesdropped on made no mention of a youko. 
" This place gives me the creeps." 
" Ssshh, you want that bitch Shurei to hear you complaining?" 
" Hah! I’m not afraid of her." 
" Then you’re a fool. Damn, this place sure is hot. Did you hear what happened 
to Kyouki?" 
" Yeah, someone stole his clothes! He still claims it was a fire spirit from the 
lava pits." Loud raucous laughter. " Whoever did it must have real lousy fashion 
sense - have you seen Kyouki’s wardrobe?" More laughter. 
" Do you have a description of the youkai we’re supposed to be looking for?" 
The sound of rustling paper. " He’s supposed to be part of the group of 
intruders Shurei met in the maze. Short, shrimpy fellow, isn’t he?" 
" Hmm…" Muttered a few choice curses. " Forcing us all the way out here in the 
heat to look for some fire demon." 
" Have you heard the rumours…" the youkai’s voice dropped until Jian could no 
longer clearly hear what he was saying. " …dragon…Hitoare…rule Makai…" 
"…must be crazy…no way…Mukuro…Yomi…allow…" 
As they passed out of earshot, Jian let out the breath he had been unconsciously 
holding. Things were much worse than he could have ever dreamt of in his worst 
nightmares… he had to get out of this confusing place, find his sisters and warn 
them. Just to be on the safe side, he picked up a handy size rock - it wasn’t 
exactly his choice of weapons but it would have to do for now. 
Skulking away, Jian kept a good distance from the general noise made by the 
searching youkai - it was all too easy for him to be spotted by one of them. 
Keeping an eye on his rearguard, he forgot the first rule - always watch where 
you’re going. As he rounded a corner, he tripped on the jagged ground…and 
slammed into the large form of a youkai. 
" Aaaah!" With all his might, Jian swung the rock against the obscure shape of a 
head. 
" Oomph!" His potential attacker went down with a loud groan. 
The youko winced as he was momentarily blinded by a bluish glow which outlined 
the shapes of more youkai in the dark tunnel. To have come so far only to be 
recaptured… With a sinking heart, he lifted the rock again, quite prepared to 
die instead of languishing the rest of his life in one of Hitoare’s cells. 
" Rei G- " he heard one of the youkai shout. 
" NO!" an achingly familiar voice cried out. 
His eyes, beginning to adjust to the light, made out five figures, including the 
one he had struck who was still groaning at his feet. Three of them he did not 
know - two appeared to be ningen and one was a silver youko, but the other two… 
" RIAN! LIAN!" It had to be a trick of the light. What were they doing here, 
miles from their home and with these strangers? Then, it occurred to him and he 
found himself grinning foolishly. " You came - " 
He wasn’t allowed to continue as his twin threw herself into his arms with a 
joyous shriek. Stumbling back slightly, he realised he was crying and tried to 
wipe his eyes before anyone noticed. 
" Oh, Jian!" Rian was blubbering just as badly as he was. " How did you get 
out?" 
" I picked the lock just the way you taught me." His older sister was hugging 
him so hard, she had cut of the circulation to his brain. " Guess I’m not a 
total loser as a thief, eh?" 
She wanted to say something but started to cry. " I’m so sorry…" 
" Huh? Lian, what are you saying? It wasn’t your fault that I got captured, I 
just got careless and…" 
" They used you to blackmail us," his twin told him, sniffing. " They wanted us 
to steal a dragon." 
Jian looked incredulous. " How do you steal a dragon?" 
" He wasn’t really a dragon - yet. He was a fire demon and now…" she burst into 
fresh tears, unable to continue. 
The youko remembered the conversation he had overheard while hiding out on the 
ledge. " Hitoare’s goons are looking for a fire demon - could he be the one?" 
The silver youko who had been standing silently by while they had their teary 
reunion suddenly lifted his golden eyes to stare at him. There was a wild, 
desperate hope in them. Slowly, in an odd, choked voice, he asked, " What - did 
- you - say?" 
Jian swallowed, slightly unnerved by the quiet intensity in the youko’s 
expression. This was the one Hitoare should fear the most - he would die…or kill 
for his love, for there was no doubt in Jian’s mind that it was *love* that was 
responsible for that look in his eyes. " I heard a couple of the youkai talking 
about a fire demon they were hunting." 
The human who was standing next to the silver youko frowned. " When did you hear 
this?" 
" About a few moments ago." He looked around worriedly. " We should be going 
someplace safer, Hitoare’s men are all over the place." The human at his feet 
groaned again and slowly got up, holding his bruised forehead with one hand. " 
Whoops! Sorry about that." 
" I ought to…" he threatened, and then moaned as the sound of his voice made his 
injured head throb painfully. 
" Come on," the dark-haired human said. " We have to keep moving. By the way, 
I’m Yuusuke, the youko is Kurama and the one you dented is Kuwabara." He grinned 
insultingly at the orange-haired human. " I’m sure you did no permanent harm - 
his head is as hard as a rock, and just as dense." 
" I’ll get you for that." Kuwabara shook his fist at him. 
Kurama laughed - the sound of his laughter was oddly vibrant compared to dark, 
oppressive surroundings they were in. " He’s alive." Twirling Rian around, he 
kissed her on both cheeks before releasing her. " He’s ALIVE!" 
" Figures," Kuwabara grumbled. " I always knew it would take more than a dose of 
liquid fire to kill that little runt."