Fire & Ice III Chapter 7 : Rescue The frozen tundra that was Nuryko’s home extended in every direction as far as the eye could see. Kurama hated it - the land was dead, nothing living could survive there. He knew from his centuries as a youko that such a phenomenon was unnatural, even in the Makai. Perhaps the desolation itself was a reflection of Nuryko’s soul, or maybe, she had leeched the land of its life just as she was draining Hiei of his youki. He had shifted to his youko form in order to avoid freezing to death in the extreme temperatures. It was for this reason that they had left Kuwabara in the Ningenkai. No amount of clothing could stave off this bone-chilling wind. Yuusuke, even with his diluted youkai blood, shivered in the thick Makai furs that he wore. " There doesn’t seem to be anyone around," Yuusuke joked, nervously. The silence was never ending, save for the occasional scream of a gale breaking across the barren tundra. Yukina looked out into the emptiness, feeling a strange sort of empathy for the ice demon who had taken her twin.. The faint tug in her heart pulled her towards the north. " There." Kurama squinted, trying to ignore the painful whiteness of the landscape. " There’s a mountain there." A glittering flash caught his attention. " I think her fortress might be built into the rock itself." " Do you think she will see us coming?" He looked around - the uneven, sparse terrain would barely hide a mouse, much less the three of them. " Let’s hope she isn’t looking." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hiei stared at broken pieces of the crystal snowflake. The swirling, brightly-coloured patterns seemed completely random to him. It was looking into a small part of chaos - none of the pieces fitted. He tried pushing two shards together but some unseen force kept forcing them apart. It was getting colder inside him. It was a task just to remember to keep forcing the life-giving air in and out of his frozen lungs. If he moved too quickly, black spots appeared at the edge of his vision. For the first time since he arrived, he was determined not to die in this wasteland, if only for the sake of thwarting Nuryko. He clung to the ghosts of ‘Yukina’ and ‘Kurama’ - they were the only true link he had to the life he could not remember. He *would* break her spell. He refused to die here - alone. Gasping for air, he brought another two pieces together. With an almost inaudible click, the sharp edges came together and fused to form a larger shard. A tingling warmth infused his bleeding hands. Hiei allowed himself a smile. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nuryko paced the wide expanse of her chambers. After all she had done, all the effort she had put into the task, would it be for nothing? She would not…could not permit that creature to steal Hiei away from her. Hiei was *hers*…till death do us part, she thought with a chilly smile. There was only one thing to be done. Yukina would have to taken care of - quickly, along with the rest of those weak humans. And how considerate of them to come here to die. Chapter 8 : Open Season " Do you think she’s expecting us?" " Hmm…the gates are open and there’s not a guard in sight. Either her security is *really* bad or we’re in for a warm welcome." " Hiei is very close." Nuryko watched them with a faint smile. She had underestimated these friends of her fire demon - not many youkai would risk certain death for someone not of their blood. However, their timely arrival had given her the first close look at her mortal rival, Yukina. How could he yearn for that pathetic thing? Nuryko fumed. She looked so fragile that a strong gust of wind would probably sent her tumbling into the snow. She had *his* eyes, something that made her even angrier. No matter, Nuryko decided, they would all die and without them, Hiei would have no reason to leave her. She would kill the two more powerful youkai first, the Fox and the Dark-Hair. Later, when they had been disposed of, she would take great pleasure in carving out Yukina’s heart. The Fox stepped over the threshold into her fortress. His eyes flickered over every corner, watching for unseen enemies. Finally, he gave them the all-clear sign and the others followed him in. " Welcome into my parlour," Nuryko giggled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ " I feel him. There." Yukina pointed towards the corridor braching off to the right. Yuusuke frowned. " Nuryko’s youki is coming strongly from the other side." " It might be better if we split up. Yukina can go find Hiei while we hold off Nuryko. It would probably be less dangerous that if we let her sneak up on us at a crucial moment." The others nodded their agreement. " You better move quickly, Yukina. I have this *bad* feeling that we might have to leave in a hurry," Yuusuke told the ice demon. " Thank you…and good luck." They stood there until she had disappeared into the shrouded darkness of the hallway. Then Kurama reached into his silvery mane of hair and drew out the rose whip. He cracked it a few times, experimentally. " Well, Yuusuke? Are you ready?" " We’re certainly not getting any younger standing out here. Let’s go kill the witch." The fox gave his friend a sly grin of approval. " My sentiments exactly." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was a dead end. Yukina stared in frustration at the three ice walls surrounding her. Distorted triple images of herself looked back, looking equally frustrated. He was here, just beyond these walls - she was so sure of it. " Hiei!" she shouted pounding at the smooth, hard surface. There was no reply from the other side but her brother’s name echoed eerily down the corridor. She tried using her powers but Nuryko had bound the entrance shut with a complex spell that was beyond her talents. A cold hand touched her shoulder. Yukina gasped and spun around. A little girl stood in front of her, dressed in a simple white kimono decorated with delicate azure embroidery of snowflake patterns. Her eyes were a pale blue colour, filled with an ageless sorrow that was strangely out of place in a child. " Who are you?" Yukina asked. Her bluish lips moved but no sound emerged. Finally, she reached out to touch Yukina’s hand. Her fingers were cold, not because of the chill but because she was not alive… A shade - a restless spirit unable to find peace in the afterlife or to be reincarnated in a new form. But why? What was this ice demon child doing in Nuryko’s fortress? Had Nuryko murdered her as she had done to so many others? The child tugged impatiently at her hand, pulling her towards one of the walls. Reaching out one small hand, she pressed her palm against the solid ice. A rumbling vibration shook Yukina out of her amazement. Immediately, she knew that the child was responsible. Stroking her ghostly blue hair, she murmured her thanks to this restless soul. And then, she was gone. Slowly, the door slid open… Chapter 9 : The Lull Before The Storm She had always imagined what she would say when she was reunited with her twin. But this was not a stranger, it was Hiei - he had become dear to her heart long before she ever found out that he was her long-lost brother. When Kurama had told her about him, she had been angry that he had hidden his identity from her. But because she knew him - Hiei - she had partially understood his reasons for doing so. He did not look up when she came into the room. He was crouched over a pile of broken crystal, his fingers moving the pieces back and forth across the icy floor. So intent he was at his task, he did not even acknowledge her when she knelt down beside him. " Hiei," she whispered gently. She took his bleeding hands into her own, concentrated her youki and healed the cuts. There was no recognition in his eyes. As soon as she released his hands, he turned away and returned to rearranging the shards. " Hiei, we have to go. Nuryko’s going to kill us." Yukina tugged at his sleeve. " Yuusuke and Kurama are waiting for us." " I can’t leave." He finally glanced at her - coldly remote. She could almost see him drifting further and further away. " I have to put the pieces back together." " Why?" " Because…" He picked up another shard. Blood from a fresh cut dripped to the floor. " My life…my memories are here." " I’ll help you." He had already partially completed the intricate snowflake. Yukina realised that she could *see* the lines of the swirling patterns. As a child, she had played with these designs - part of her heritage as an ice demon. Something that Hiei would know nothing about. It was like a huge puzzle, each piece fitted perfectly. Swiftly, she brought the individual pieces together. Even as she clicked the last broken shard into place, she could feel Nuryko’s enchantment unravelling. Hiei jerked back as the entire crystal snowflake burst into flames - the cold, dark fires of the Kokuryuha. His newly released memories cascaded into his mind like a fierce, unstoppable torrent of water. YukinaKuramaYuusukeKuwabaraKoenmaShioriShizuru…the names, faces and emotions poured into him, warming him like a raging bonfire. When he opened his eyes, he saw the face of his twin, peering anxiously down at him. " Yukina?" " Oniisan!" She threw her arms around him and squeezed him hard. He felt the final sliver of ice in his heart melt away into nothingness. " You know?" Hiei mumbled, uneasily. " How…?" " Kurama told me. I was so worried about you." " That damned fox! I told him that it was none of his business…" He suddenly scowled, looking so much like the old Hiei that Yukina laughed, and hugged him tighter. " What was he thinking of to let you come here?" " We have to leave, oniisan. Yuusuke and Kurama are distracting Nuryko." " They’re *fighting* Nuryko?" The reflection in the glass - he had seen her true form. Grabbing Yukina’s arm, he pulled her to her feet. " Come on, we have to leave now!" " What is wrong?" she cried out, alarmed by his manner. " Nuryko is not an ice demon. She’s something much, *much* worse." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ " You could save yourself the trouble, Nuryko, and let us leave peacefully with Hiei." Not expecting an answer, Yuusuke had already assumed his battle stance. " I don’t like to hit girls." He did not quite sneer but it was close. Kurama grinned as he watched the ice demon’s cold eyes flare with murderous rage. Yuusuke had a real talent for annoying people when he felt like it. " I would much rather you die, human!" With that, she released a deadly blast of cold air straight at his smirking face. " Well, there goes my one shot at diplomacy." Yuusuke muttered, avoiding the strike with remarkable ease. " I think I will make an exception in your case." Kurama’s whip lashed out, slicing into the ice demon’s clothing but failing to draw any blood. As Nuryko turned on him, Yuusuke caught her on the shoulder with a single blast of his rei-gan. She staggered back slightly but remained standing. " I hope that hurt," Kurama muttered. " For Hiei." " Hiei is mine!" Nuryko hissed. " I will not let you take him." There was pity in the youko’s eyes, but not enough to excuse what she had done. " You can’t own living beings. Even if you could, *I* would still have a better chance than you." He reached into his hair, plucked two seeds from his collection of Makai plants and threw them at the ice demon. They bounced harmlessly off Nuryko’s chest and fell to the ice covered floor. Directing a quick burst of youki towards them, Kurama’s seeds exploded into a tangle of reddish brown vines that wrapped around the ice demon like a hundred desperate hands until nothing could be seen of her. " Nice," Yuusuke said admiringly. " Will it hold her?" " Long enough for us to make a discreet exit." He half-turned as he sensed familiar youki approaching them. Hiei appeared at the doorway in a blur of black. The youko was about to call out a greeting when the fire demon barrelled towards them, the expression on his face alarmingly grim. He slammed into Kurama, sending the both of them rolling across the floor just as Kurama heard the sharp whistle of wind brush the fur on his ears - a dozen razor-sharp icicles had missed his head by a hairsbreadth. He stared down at Hiei, lying underneath him, and beamed. " I’ve always wanted to be on top." " Baka," Hiei told him. Yuusuke pressed a hand against his shoulder where the icicle had sliced him. The pod of vines that was holding Nuryko glowed with a blue-white aura that was more powerful than any youki he had ever seen, even for an upper S-class ice demon. " I have a *very* bad feeling about this."