Hiei's Harem: Pt. 6 - Expanding

Scene 19 ------------ Elsewhere In The Barren Lands


* Touya, Shishi, and Suzuka watch their Alpha pace, tail swishing with aggitation, golden eyes glaring toward the woods in the same direction he has been since they woke up. The direction Yusuke took off in the previous night.


Touya- Kurama,..

Kurama- He should be back by now! If Yusuke took off..!

Shishi- Maybe he went back to Human World like Koenma told him to?


* Kurama pauses to glare down at his pack.


Kurama- When have you ever known him to listen to anyone?!


* Kurama shakes his head and looks away, closing his eyes to regain his composure. This region of Demon World is beginning to get to him more than he cares to admit.


Kurama- No.. He wouldn't have gone back without letting us know.. I don't think he would give up trying to find that little..

Suzuka- We all know it's not safe to be out by yourself.. Especially not in this region, at this time of year.


* Touya glares at the blonde seated on the log beside him.


Touya- Don't give Kurama something else to be..!

Kurama- No.. Suze is right.. Come on, we're going to go track him down.. He's had plenty enough time to cool down and return.

Shishi- Well, it might be a good sign that there was no big explosions in the area through the night.


* Touya and Suzuka voice their agreeance as they stand and follow Kurama into the woods. The four demons make their way stealthily through the fairly dense forest. Kurama follows his nose and senses alertly until they reach the edge of another small clearing. Kurama's hackles lift when he catches the various scents still lingering all over the area. But it puzzles him when they all suddenly seem to disappear.


Kurama- (Whispered) Be alert.. There's something off about this..


* Kurama quiets when a pile of clothing suddenly catches his attention in the middle of the clearing. He recognizes them immediately and begins to scan the clearing more attentively as he communicates telepathically with Suzuka.


(#) Kurama- Use your skills, Tell me if you see anything, Suze.


* As Suzuka calmly raises his hands and closes his eyes to concentrate Shishi spots the pile of clothes.


Shishi- Hey, isn't that what Yusuke was..?


* He starts toward the pile but Kurama grabs his arm.


Kurama- You stay here.

(#) Suzuka- I'm not getting anything but a dense fog, Kurama.. Be careful.. I don't like this.

Touya- (Whispered) There's a strong spell of some kind around this area.

Kurama- Stay here.


* Kurama slowly, alertly makes his way further into the clearing. Shishi raises a hand to rub his chin.


Shishi- (Quietly) Something about this scenario seems.. familiar.


* Kurama reaches the pile of clothes and looks all around, but it's as if he's in a void of some kind.


(#) Kurama- It just feels.. empty.. Maybe they took Yusuke's communicator off and left it here, too. I'll try to contact Koenma and see if he can get a reading on where Yusuke is now.


* Kurama bends toward the clothes. Suddenly, both Suzuka and Touya get the same strange feeling and rush forward.


Suzuka- Kurama,..!

Touya- Stop..!


* In that instant both of them are forced to shield their eyes when Kurama picks up Yusuke's clothes. The flash of brilliant light is so sudden and so close to Kurama's face that he doesn't have time to close his own eyes. The force of the explosion that follows knocks the Kitsune back a few feet. When his three mates look again they find Kurama laying on the ground out cold and hurry over to form a triangle around him. Touya notices a small glint on the ground and looks down. When he sees what's on the ground between his feet he quickly crouches to snatch it up. Neither Shishi nor Suzuka notice as their eyes are on the figures that begin to appear, surrounding the clearing. Touya stands back up, stealthily pocketing the object he picked up. One of the larger demons has an unconscious, naked Yusuke flung over his shoulder. Another demon chuckles deeply as he steps forward.


Demon- Sit down and stay there or the Mazoku dies in his sleep.


* Shishi and Suzuka exchange glances, mentally plotting their defense.


Demon- Which will be quicker? Your pathetic moves or my partner's sharp nail blade?


* The demon holding Yusuke holds up one of his hands. One of his fingernails lengthens into a sharp blade.


Demon- Or maybe my other comrades' rifle arms?


* A couple other demons lift their arms as they shift into rifles. One of the demons kneels to set his armgun's sights right on their unconscious Alpha.


Suzuka- Touya,..?


* Touya glances down at Kurama. He could shield the Kitsune from the gunfire, but that would still leave his fellow mates open to be gunned down.


Demon- Come on now, be smart.. Touya.. We've been following your little group for a couple days now.. We know the blue-haired imp, there, is already bred.


* Shishi turns an angry glare toward the large, multiarmed demon that's obviously the leader. The samurai growls until Touya touches his shoulder.


Touya- We have no choice but to listen.. for now.. Something is blocking my full powers..

Suzuka- Yeah, mine, too.

Demon- That's right.. Just sit down and give up peacefully.. No harm will come to any of you.


* Shishi and Suzuka watch Touya move forward, to place himself habitually between Kurama and the intruder, then sink to sit down. Suzuka moves to join Touya, but Shishi remains standing. He starts to reach up as if to adjust a couple strands of his blue hair behind an ear. In the next instant a couple vines streak out from the side to ensnare the samurai and yank him away from the others. Touya starts to stand again.


Touya- You said you wouldn't..!

Demon- Just a little added.. incentive.. We're professionals at this, boy.


* Touya sinks back down but glares daggers at their captor.


Demon- You, Blondie! Sit down.


* Touya half glances up at Suzuka who has remained in his half crouched position as if ready to spring into action.


(#) Touya- Sit down, Suze.. We'll get our chance soon enough.


* Suzuka looks toward Shishi again. He sees that the samurai's instincts are keeping him from fighting the vines since he is laying stock still. When Suzuka sits down beside Touya the leader motions a couple of his arms. A group of smaller demons flood into the clearing. In quick succession each of them uses a needle-like finger to shoot a strong tranquilizer into Touya and Suzuka. Another goes over to do the same to Shishi. When Kurama moans and starts to sit up he has no time to react before he is jabbed in his neck by one of the fingers. A moment later he collapses back down to the ground. The multiarmed demon phases back into his usual form, which resembles just a large, brown-haired human with multiple horns on his head.


Demon- Alright, good work as always.. we got us a nice bunch of studs this time.. Now let's secure them and get out of here.


* The demon that tranquilized Kurama lifts the Kitsune's head by a bunch of his silver hair to get a closer look at him.


Smaller Demon- M-Master Matsua,.. d-do you know..?


* The leader chuckles as he strolls over to look down at his newest prize.


Matsua- Hai, Nidoru.. I've known since we started watching them.. One of the last silver Kitsunes ever known to exist.. Like I said, we hit the jackpot this time.. Do you have any idea how rich we're gonna be when we start selling the great Youko Kurama's brats? Not to mention the only Mazoku currently existing here in Demon World?


* One of the other needle-fingered demons looks up at Matsua.


Hari- But.. isn't he one of the three Regional Lords..?


* Matsua nods with another chuckle.


Matsua- Yeah.. Trust me, Hari. I know what I'm doing.. Now get your a--es in gear! We need to get these ones back home and secured before they wake up.


* Now understanding the full reason for their haste, the gang works a little quicker to secure their catch and take off toward their stronghold.