Caverns
Caverns
by The Blue Spanch
The pain held him in a mailed fist, and it would not let him go.
He could hardly breathe; his lungs trembled in a ribcage suddenly
made too tight, and his heart labored to keep blood like treacle flowing
through his veins. His stomach and bowels had emptied themselves long
ago, but it only made things worse. His skin switched from burning to
freezing frequently and without warning, and his muscles spasmed
constantly.
The pain held him in a mailed fist, and it would not let him go.
Worse still were the visions that thumped through his fevered brain,
convulsed his consciousness: A vision of something direful and scorning
of their efforts, huge and hideous of aspect, and bottomlessly evil. It
had taken the best they could throw at it without so much as breaking a
sweat. Chillingly it derided him and his friends, and laughed when they
ran to save their own lives from its whimsies. Gone to ground and under
it, to regain strength that they never had in the first place... How
could one destroy a true immortal?
The pain held him in a mailed fist, and it would not let him go.
Relief!
The euphoria that came at the sudden absence of all pain nearly kept
him from feeling the small bony hand that rested on his sweaty
forehead. A soft, whispered conversation was going on above his head,
and he strained to listen.
:Well?:
:Human; demonic admixture perhaps 2 to 3 generations back. Talents
from that.:
:Yes, but royally ill, poor thing. Do you think he's salvageable?:
:Maybe. Damage to the mind, I think. The bloodfire is very bad.:
:Mushroom poisoning, no doubt, and far gone in it. Are you sure you
can heal this kid without hurting yourself?:
A thoughtful pause.
:I will pace. It would be wrongness for this one to leave. It would
not fit.:
:If you say so.:
He opened his eyes to see those who had stopped the pain, and confusion
met him. A pair of gentle grey cat's eyes peered into his own out of a
smear of white, and behind them a mass of orange and gold burned coldly
among pale slate; three green eyes in a row sailed the upper reaches of
the fiery blur.
:Sleep,: murmured the pale figure, and he did.
The world was a very small place for some time; felted orange fur kept
oversensitive skin from scraping on bare stone, gentle hands stroked
troublesome dreams away. There was water to cool a parched throat, and
food to carefully fill an easily upset stomach. Moreover, there was
always someone nearby, either the comforting furry bulk of the larger
orange creature or the calm presence of the little white one. Every so
often the latter of these two would lay a hand on the fevered forehead,
and sit very still; a wave of blessed coolness would wash away pain for
a while, and then sleep would come. Deep, deep sleep that dragged at
the bones.
Full awareness came as something of a shock to the sick boy. He found
himself crowded up for warmth against a great orange-furred beast that
snored softly beside him. The matting he lay on was actually a thick
layer of shed fur. Small trickling noises emanated from a minuscule
waterfall that leaked down the wall of the large cavern they were in,
running eventually into a small, chilly-looking pool that had its own
outlet through the floor. The floor itself was littered here and there
with stacks of what looked to be dried vines of some sort, bits and
pieces of something shell-like, and a few small piles of strange fruit
and mushrooms.
Something about the waterfall was hauntingly familiar; the sound of
falling water, the smell of the mineral traces in it... A picture of a
fountain carved from solid basalt by a forgotten race floated through
his mind, but slid away when he tried to follow it. With a groan, he
realized that he could remember nothing before the awful sickness that
had nearly killed him not so long ago.
At the sound, the big orange creature gave a soft snort, rolled over,
and gathered the boy into its arms, rubbing his back and crooning
comfortingly in a deep, soft voice. Despite his distress, he relaxed
under the caresses. He was among friends, he was safe, he would get
well, he would be strong again. With a sigh of contentment, he allowed
himself to be soothed back into sleep.
When next he woke, he woke alone. With a gasp of terror, he sat
upright too fast, and his vision blurred and roared in his ears.
"Where-" he cried, and then stopped, the hoarseness in his voice
startling him.
Something off to his right hissed softly; when he looked up, he saw the
little pale one, who was prodding at a small fire with a length of dried
vine. The boy relaxed, weak with relief as his benefactor left the fire
to bring him one of the strange fruits he had noted earlier. "Who are
you?" The boy asked, biting into the fruit. It tasted sort of like
grapefruit.
:Beni.: The white figure replied without speaking. :And you?:
The boy blinked at the pale one, uneasy with the way the words formed
in his head without bothering to arrive at his ears first. Uneasy, he
tried to answer. "I'm..."
The name would not come. To his growing horror, he could not recall
his name. "I don't know." He choked, burying his face in his hands.
Beni watched him for a moment, and then got up. He dipped a
bowl-shaped piece of shell into the pool, and then brought it back.
:Who is this?: he asked, setting the bowl down between them.
The boy looked at his reflection and almost didn't recognize it. Large
dark eyes peered back at him out of a heart-shaped face worn too thin
and pale by disease. His hair was dark, too, a sort of greeny-black,
lank, and grown out of a short haircut. A small nose, long eyebrows, a
mouth that had smiled a great deal in the past. As he sat and stared at
the image, the knowledge trickled out of the blocked recesses of his
brain like liquid silver. "Yuusuke." He said finally. "My name is
Yuusuke."
Feeling very weak but much reassured by the memory of who he was, he
sank back down on the matting, and Beni moved closer and sprinkled him
with drops of cool water from the bowl. It felt very good.
:Your mind mends itself; this is good. Beni said quietly, his voice an
echo in Yuusuke's mind. Rest now. The sickness took too much from you-
it frightened your memory so that it went to hide. I have made the
sickness go away, but your body is very weak from it. Rom has gone to
hunt meat for us.:
The word "meat" was accompanied by a mental image of something huge,
clawed, and dangerous, but coupled with the taste of sweet white flesh.
Confused but willing to wait, Yuusuke finished off his fruit and studied
his companion. Beni was tiny, even smaller than... than... He
couldn't put a name to any short people he knew, but Beni was even
smaller than them, and quite thin and delicate-looking. His skin and
hair were the same white as new-fallen snow, and there was something
definitely catlike about him; the way he moved, the calm gaze from those
slit-pupilled eyes. Other than that, he looked human.
There was a rumble of stone grating on stone behind them, and Beni's
head snapped around for a look, body gone suddenly tense. Yuusuke could
understand his nervousness- there were scars on that pale throat, barely
visible, from when someone or something had tried to kill him. Yuusuke
rolled over for a look at the invader. A large stone that blocked a
tunnel leading out of the far end of the room was being ponderously
moved out of the way by something big, orange, and hairy. Beni
immediately lost all fear and made a strange twittering noise in
welcome, the first actual vocal sound that Yuusuke had heard him utter,
and got a friendly rumble in reply.
Yuusuke could not help but stare at the new arrival. Its body shape
was different from his own, but familiar; the words 'leonine' and
'centaur' crept into his mind. Clad in long, silky, bright flame-orange
fur was a seamless combination of big cat and humanoid, a tiger without
stripes from the waist down. A long, gleaming tuft of hair tipped the
long lion's tail, and the shoulders and arms were well-muscled under all
that fur. The creature's facial features were thick, almost orcish,
with three lambent green eyes in a row, deep-set under a heavy brow. A
luxurious golden mane crowned the head, and two long antelope horns
speared up from just above its temples. Pointed ears flicked at the
sides of its head, ruffling the mane.
Yuusuke had an odd feeling that this creature should be much bigger,
longer, hairless, bright red, and four-armed. He hadn't the slightest
idea why he thought this.
The creature rolled the rock back into position over the tunnel mouth,
ambled over, and placed what had to be the biggest crab that Yuusuke had
ever seen at Beni's feet. "How's he doing?" It asked, in the same
deep, soft voice that had quietened Yuusuke's nightmares time and time
again.
:Better.: Beni replied, inspecting the crab. :The sickness is gone,
and his memory creeps back in small parts. His name is Yuusuke.:
"That's good to hear." The creature gave Yuusuke an affectionate smile
and stroked his hair gently. "Thought we might lose you, kid. I'm
Romfelemars, Rom for short. You feeling up to spidercrab for dinner?"
Yuusuke blinked and tried to come up with a reply, but his stomach
answered for him with a twisting growl of its own. One fruit did not a
full meal make! "I suppose so." He said, making Rom chuckle.
He was hungrier than he thought he would be, stuffing his face full of
crab with gusto. It was delicious, steamed in its shell and sprinkled
with juice squeezed from the fruits. With a contented burp, he leaned
back against Rom and fell asleep.
:Deep Springs, when next he wakes.: Beni said with a sniff. :He
smells unclean.:
"Him and us both, my friend." Rom replied calmly, extending a claw to
tease the last shreds of meat from the crab's carapace. "Admit it, we
could use a slosh-off."
"Shit!" Yuusuke cried in frustration as his knees buckled under him,
forcing him to grab hold of Rom's fur to keep from sliding into an
ungraceful heap on the floor.
"Go easy on yourself, Yuusuke," Rom chided, easing the angry teenager
back to his feet, "people who dance with the Reaper generally don't have
much strength in their legs for a long time afterwards."
"Just great." Yuusuke muttered sourly as he tried to get his knees to
stop shaking. "Get sick for a little while and everything falls apart."
"You're grip's still good, at least." Rom winced at having his hair
pulled and settled for scooping the protesting boy up onto his back.
"Now listen up, kid, there are certain things you should know about life
down here. First things first: The food chain. You're part of it, and
you're not on the top."
Yuusuke blinked. "You mean there's man-eaters out there?"
"Most things down here will jump at the chance to get a little meat.
They don't care what kind of meat. Some of 'em go for souls instead,
and leave the meat for the rest." Rom shuddered. "The worst of 'em are
the Whisperers, and they're all but invisible, like faint shadows. They
call you by name in the voices of your best friends, soft and far away.
Once they corner you, they rip out your soul and devour it and then
clear out of there before the Bonewraiths come to see what all the fuss
is about. That's the thing, you see. Noise attracts predators, so be
absolutely silent when we go out! Beni's done something to the walls of
this cave that keeps the Whisperers out, but speech still makes him very
nervous, even if he can't make any."
Yuusuke frowned. "Those scars on his neck-"
"Yeah," Rom sighed, "he lost his voice to some mad scientist with a
knife, and then most of the speech center of his brain to an insane
mind-reader. He only puts up with our chattering to be polite. By the
way, if you need to say something outside, just think it. He makes it
so we can hear each other. Now where was I?"
"Bonewraiths."
"Right. Bonewraiths love to eat Whisperers, but they'll go for
carrion, too. That applies to any soulless husks lying around. They'll
shred and devour the corpse, leaving only a mangled skeleton for the
spidercrabs and crickets to fight over. Oddly enough, they won't go
after the living.
"The crickets aren't anything to worry about -they're quite tasty when
roasted, you know- but the spidercrabs can be hair-raising. They get up
to five feet wide, not counting the legs, with three or more sets of
claws. Given the slightest chance, they'll rip the living flesh off
your bones without bothering to kill you first. There's also a bunch of
ordinary folks from the Makai or Reikai or wherever, either flipped out
on the dream 'shrooms or dying from the poison 'shrooms, poor bastards."
"Then why did you save my life and not theirs?" Yuusuke asked.
"Beni sensed you were different, somehow, a piece of something bigger.
I haven't the faintest idea of what he's talking about, but I've trusted
his judgement for far too long to start doubting him now. Speaking of
Beni, we'd better get going before he leaves without us."
Beni was, in fact, sitting by the doorstone, fidgeting with
impatience. As Rom moved the boulder aside, Yuusuke felt a faint
feather-touch flick over his mind; then he was abruptly aware of his two
companions as he had never been aware of anyone before. Rom was a calm,
warm ocean of controlled strength, unafraid of the hazards of the outer
caverns, but duly cautious of them. Beni was radically different; a
glittering threefold current of emotion, instinct, and memory, crackling
with eagerness to be gone. There was something strangely alien about
him, however, something that made the hairs on the back of Yuusuke's
neck stand on end as he tried to puzzle out that strangeness. Beni was
a triple being, he realized with a start. There was a taste of human in
his mental makeup, but a kind of human that didn't fit. The rest was
split evenly between an ordinary house cat and something bright,
ancient, and terrible...
"Beni's not from around here, is he?" Yuusuke whispered to Rom.
"Nope." Rom grunted, setting the doorstone in place. "He was here for
a long time before I ever set foot in this place. I dunno where he's
from- hells, he doesn't know where he's from. All he cares is that here
is better than there and won't explain further than that. Now quiet!
We're moving out into Caverns Proper."
"Caverns Proper" was a dim, twisting labyrinth of natural caves, lit by
the pale, luminous flowers of a network of vines that Beni called ghost
creepers. Six-inch blind crickets rustled ceaselessly among the
star-shaped blossoms and clusters of tiny black leaves, feeding off the
nectar and what fruits were left by hungry passers-by. Sounds were
amplified and strangely twisted by the unusual acoustics of the cave
system; weird, eerie groans echoed distantly at them and faded away.
Screaming mad laughter erupted from a cul-de-sac, only to be cut off
abruptly as they rounded a corner. Somewhere, someone began to sing the
first verse of an old nursery song over and over again until that, too,
disappeared. A bloodcurdling wail of utter despair suddenly lashed
their ears, making Rom jump and Yuusuke gasp. Beni hissed angrily, and
led them directly away from the shrieking.
:Whisperer?: Yuusuke asked, shivering.
Beni flashed angry confirmation. :It feeds. It delights in the agony
of the prey. Perhaps the Bonewraithes will return the favor.:
I hope so. Rom emoted uneasily.
The remainder of their journey was a nervous one, but uneventful. The
tunnel opened abruptly before them, and the suddenly warm, moist air was
filled with the gentle splashing of water and the sharp, mineral smell
of hotsprings. Three roiling pools took up most of the room, steaming
seductively in the half-light of the ghost creepers. Rounded stone
formations around the edges of the pools offered comfortable soaking
spots as well; in short, the urge to get really clean was irresistible
for the three new arrivals, and they wasted no time in getting in. Rom
plunged in with an almighty splash and sank right up to the eyebrows
before hitting bottom, forcing Yuusuke to swim for it. Beni entered the
water with somewhat more decorum, pausing to shuck his worn grey
garments before climbing in.
:Was that really necessary, Rom?: Yuusuke grumped, hauling himself up
on a submerged stone. The big orange furball merely laughed silently at
him and rolled over in the water, creating a miniature tidal wave.
:What the hell,: Yuusuke sighed inwardly, pulling off his stained and
torn shirt, :my clothes needed a wash, anyway.:
So did they. Clouds of accumulated grime temporarily fogged the water
as they scrubbed each other down, followed by huge clumps of shed fur
from Rom; apparently the damp and the heat had triggered his master
fur-release system- he was losing hair like a collie in August. To make
things worse, Beni insisted on grooming him, which released so much more
fur into the water that Yuusuke had to move into another pool before he
inadvertently became a yeti impersonator. He settled for washing out
his clothes and getting a long soak in while Beni and Rom concentrated
on getting all the tangles out. This took quite some time, there being
a great deal of Rom to go over. Yuusuke fell asleep long before they
were done.
:Wake; we return home now.:
"Unh?" Yuusuke awoke with a start. The monster from his fever dreams
had been stalking him again.
:Rise and shine, boyo, you've steeped long enough in that pool. Can't
have you turning into a prune on us, can't we?:
:Maybe prunes know something we don't, Rom.: Yuuske growled, pulling
on his damp clothes and joining Beni up on Rom's broad back.
:Maybe,: Rom replied as they left the hotsprings, :remind me to ask
them later.:
Yuusuke glowered at the back of Rom's head. For a moment, he was
powerfully reminded of some sort of clown, one that was as aggravating
as it was funny. He shook his head sourly. If only his memory would
come back!
They ran into a trio of Bonewraithes on the way back. The three
creatures were finishing off what the Whisperer had left behind, a sort
of lizardlike thing with heavy scales. The Bonewraithes were aptly
named; they resembled human skeletons, but only up to a point. Finger-
and toe bones ended in hooked talons, jaws were lined with fangs
designed solely for tearing flesh, and the skulls were crowned with
thatches of coarse, dark hair. The ribcages were larger, and the
breastbone had become a keel like a bird's, and sturdy wingbones that
resembled a cross between a bat's and a butterfly's sprouted from the
shoulders. Deep shadow strung between the wing-fingers served for
flight membrane, a deep red glow hovered in the ribcages where their
hearts should have been, and a pale radiance gleamed from the
eyesockets. When they caught sight of Yuusuke and the others, they
began to hiss malevolently and rattle their wingbones with aggression.
:Go!: Beni prodded Rom back into motion. :Their meat, not ours. They
will attack if we do not leave. Their bite is lethal.:
Rom didn't bother to argue. Bonewraithes gave him the creeps.
Yuusuke regained his strength slowly, but with dogged determination,
walking and eventually running around the home cavern with increasing
ease and speed. Trickles of memory returned steadily as well; he could
now remember a fair amount of his childhood, and a number of fragments
that meant nothing to him as yet. Not that he had much time to sit
around cudgeling his stubborn amnesia. Rom and Beni insisted on
teaching him how to survive in the subterranean labyrinth, an exercise
that always left him exhausted. Mind you, it came greatly in handy.
Aside from the obvious lessons on how to avoid predators, getting enough
food to feed all of them was a constant worry, and any little help he
could give was help well received. Yuusuke learned that the crickets
were easy and delicious prey, tasting like fresh waterchestnuts when
roasted. He learned which mushrooms to harvest and which to avoid like
the plague, where the best fruits grew on the ghost creeper vines, and
how to pull down and dry the creepers themselves for firewood. The one
prey that he had no luck with at all were the blind fish that lived in
deep, dark pools some distance from the home cavern. Though sightless,
the fish were very sensitive to vibration and the slightest fidget sent
them streaking for the depths. Beni was the only one of their group
with the statuelike patience required to catch these nervous fish, but
the taste and texture of these fish was well worth the wait.
"Arise and awake, my beamish boy," Rom rumbled, shaking Yuuske awake,
"time to get in your morning exercises. Today we teach you to hunt
spidercrab without getting maimed in the process."
Yuusuke groaned, rolled over, and told Rom what he could do with his
damned spidercrabs.
Rom sniffed primly and rolled Yuusuke right into the cold pool. "Don't
be ridiculous." He said as Yuusuke squawked and lurched out of the icy
water. "I'm not equipped for that sort of thing."
"Could've fooled me." Yuusuke muttered darkly, wringing out his
shirt. "All right, so how do you hunt spidercrabs?"
"There's a bunch of ways," Rom began, "for instance, before I teamed
up with him, Beni used to go after the little ones by pestering them to
death, but that takes too much time. I used to just throw rocks at them
until they broke, but that sort of thing tended to attract unwelcome
attention. The way we do it now, he dances around in front of the
critter and distracts it while I grab the hind legs and bash it into the
wall a few times. Now that you're upright and mobile, kid, we'll be
able to haul in some big ones."
"Do I get to help you bash it to death?" Yuusuke asked.
"Naah, you're not built for that sort of hauling, not with the big
ones. Spidercrabs grow extra sets of fighting claws as they get bigger,
and an extra pair of eyestalks to keep track of 'em, too. We've only
been able to bring in the small-to-medium sizes because the big ones can
focus in on more than one enemy at once. This is a bad thing. One snip
from a fighting claw could cost you your life, and the reach on those
things is incredible! They're fast, too. When we meet the beast, give
it lots of room, hear?"
"Yes, sensei!"
"Good boy. Go do your laps."
Yuusuke put his damp shirt back on and trotted off across the room.
Rom watched him for a few minutes, and then moved over to the far wall.
Shortly after, he felt Beni's slight weight land on his withers. Beni
had been busy skittering up and down the network of ghost creepers that
matted the walls in search of ripe fruit, and now offered one to Rom.
:Are you sure he's ready for this?: The hairy centauroid asked his
companion silently, crunching the tart fruit. :He's better, but his
reflexes are still too slow for spidercrab hunting.:
:I will guide him.: Beni said, infuriatingly calm. :Whether he is
ready or not does not matter this time; something important will happen
this hunt. Another piece will join us. There will be meat enough to
feed us all.:
Rom gave an exasperated snort and glared at Beni. :Another piece of
what, Beni? I didn't understand what you meant the first time, when we
dragged that scrawny, mushroom-poisoned wreck back here, and I don't get
it now! Speak clearly for once, will you?:
Beni gave it his best shot. :A piece of something important, something
greater than the sum of its parts, something to level the balance, to
make wrong things not, something to... to...: Beni frowned, looking for
the right words and finding none that would suffice. Instead, he lifted
his catlike eyes to Rom's gleaming green ones and opened his mind.
Rom almost fell as the feelings and impressions struck him like a tidal
wave. :--Different disparate displaced unlike and yet so alike four
parts all come together by free will by force become choice become love
power not infinite but close so very close all pointed in one direction
directed at the darkness from the light courage like the light like the
sun that never sets that never gives up no matter how many times the
flame is put out broken captured hidden always burning back young strong
forever Farseer Dragonbond Hybrid Twiceborn four against the terror of
the chaos destruction death desolation dark-eternal--:
:Oh.: Rom said very quietly, stomach churning uneasily, knees weak.
:Yuusuke is part of that. He is the Hybrid. I feel we will meet one
of the others this hunt.:
:Yeh. Remind me never to ask you to explain anything ever again.:
Beni's only reply to that was a whisper of amusement.
Yuusuke trotted up to them at that point, breathing a little hard from
his exertions. "Okay, I'm ready to go. Hey, Rom, you don't look so
good. Something you ate didn't agree with you?"
Rom shook his head, eyes troubled. "I asked Beni the wrong question,
is all. I'll be fine."
Yuusuke gave Beni a suspicious look, which was returned impassively.
"What did he do to you?"
"He gave me the answer, kid. It's my brain, not my stomach that's
sore." Rom sighed. "C'mon, let's get going."
The tunnels that Beni led them down went deep, very deep. They could
feel the massive weight of the earth around them, pressing down from
above, pulling from below. The still air had an odd salty tint to it
here, and the light-giving mats of ghost creepers were much fewer and
further between. Skitters and chittering noises rustled eerily from
dark passages, and the oppressive feeling of being watched was thick
enough to make bricks out of. The only living things they saw were the
occasional cricket or tiny spidercrabs, no bigger across than a
bottlecap.
Eventually they came to a bubble-like, dimly-lit nexus of four wide
passages, where they stopped. Beni hopped down from Rom's shoulders,
extended a set of translucent cat's claws from his fingertips and raked
them noisily over the stone floor; a very annoying sound. He kept it up
until a steady clacking sound heralded the arrival of their prey. Rom
glanced at Yuusuke, catching his eye. :Follow Beni's lead on this one,
kid. In fact, stay behind him. I don't trust your speed quite yet, and
this crab sounds like a big one.:
Yuusuke nodded agreement, and took up his position as Rom backed into a
darkened passage to wait. The clacking grew louder, closer, and finally
the far tunnel disgorged a monster. It stepped warily into the room,
peering about itself with four garnet eyes the size of golf balls. It
was mottled in various shades of grey and black and moved easily despite
its bulk on long, bristly legs. At four feet across, the heavy
carapace, scored and pitted from past battles, could have served as a
coffee table. In the back of Yuusuke's mind, a creature of
dark-patterned and deadly violence gave vent to chilling metallic
laughter, freezing his spine. This oversized crustacean was not to be
taken lightly. :You will move to the left of it;: Beni informed him, a
strange excitement sparkling in that alien mind. :I will move to the
front. Stay near the walls and tunnel mouths- do not go near it! Act
dream-addled.:
Beni rose to his feet and pirouetted out of hiding, making clicking
noises with his tongue. Yuusuke swallowed hard and followed him out on
all fours. The crab came to attention immediately, spreading its four
huge fighting claws into the ready position. It began a rasping
chitter, a disgustingly eager noise as it spotted apparently helpless
prey, segmented mandibles writhing sickeningly with anticipation. The
spidercrab hesitated a moment, trying to decide which of them to go
after first, and settled on Yuusuke, for he was a larger and more
succulent morsel than Beni's bony frame. Yuusuke jumped away just in
time as the monster lunged forward, snapping a thorny claw longer than
his torso at him. It closed on empty air, tips grating harshly over
stone with a sound like thumbtacks scraping over blackboards. With a
rasp of rage, it came after him, swinging claw after claw at him until
it pinned him in a corner. Seeing no escape on either side, Yuusuke
dove underneath the low-slung creature, crawling between the long legs
as fast as he could. Unable to reach beneath itself, the spidercrab
settled for trying to trample him until a shrill whistle distracted it.
It paused just long enough for Beni to throw a stone that took one of
its eyestalks off at the root. Gouting thin pink fluids from its ruined
member, the crab shrieked in utter fury and sprang after its attacker,
claws clashing angrily. Rom seized both his chance and the crab's hind
legs at that point, bracing his forelegs and smashing the flailing
horror into the wall with a loud grunt. Rattling its mandibles in manic
fury, the monster lurched up from the floor, removing a tuft of fur from
Rom's hind leg with a lucky snap of a claw as he sprang away. Again,
Beni and Yuusuke did their best to draw the beast's attention until Rom
could give it another slam, and each time it scraped itself up off the
floor to attack again. Although its legs wobbled more and more with
each stunning blow it received, the crab tired a lot slower than Rom,
Beni, and Yuusuke did, and it wouldn't let up for a minute. :We may
have to run for it, guys,: Rom gasped as the crab once again rose up
snapping, :I'm almost pooped and this thing refuses to break!:
"Oh, no you don't!" A new voice shouted from a side passage, startling
them all. A tall young man with a sword of golden light dashed out of
the passage and crashed into the crab, throwing it off balance. He
staggered back, got his breath, and continued shouting at the confused
monster. "I have you now, you murdering sushi-bait! Take that and that
and that!" He swung the sword violently around him, slicing through a
stalagmite, several feet of unoffending air, and one of the crab's legs,
nearly severing it.
The creature squealed in real pain and lurched away, dragging its
injured leg behind it. The man followed it at a run, laughing
breathlessly and mocking its cowardice. It would have been more
impressive if he hadn't tripped on a lump of stone. Seeing its enemy
sprawled flat on his face, the crab lurched in for the kill. The man,
seemingly unaware of his predicament, pulled himself into a low crouch
and sprang up forcefully, banging his head on the crab's underside and
spearing it through the mandibles with the sword quite by accident.
Instantly killed by the blade thrust into its brain, the crab collapsed
motionless on top of its killer.
Rom, Beni, and Yuusuke stared with amazed disbelief at the dead crab
and the guy struggling to get out from under it. :Have any of you seen
anything like that before?: Rom asked weakly.
Beni thought for a moment, but shook his head. On the other hand, the
arrival of the gallant crab-slayer had jostled some of Yuusuke's
memories loose. :I have.: He said with a rueful smile. :I know this
guy. Help me get this thing off of him.:
With their help, the newcomer pried himself free, and then ran his
fingers over the crab's carapace, stopping when he found some recent
scores. "Hah! So I did get you at last! That'll teach you to eat my
new jacket."
Yuusuke had the grace to look embarrassed. "Only you would seek
revenge for a jacket." He sighed. "Hi, Kuwabara."
"Yuusuke, that you?" Kuwabara said with a grin, reaching out to grab
Yuusuke's arm. "Damn, man, you've gone all skinny. I'd say that I was
really happy to see you again, but it's too dark for that."
"Dark?" Yuusuke said, surprised. "Kuwabara, I can see just fine."
Kuwabara scowled at Yuusuke, bringing his eyes into full view for the
first time; a milky film had coated them, rendering him sightless. "No
way! We're in a cave, Yuusuke, it's dark in caves."
"Your Rei Sword glows in the dark, remember?" Yuusuke informed him.
Kuwabara was silent for a moment as he digested this fact. "I'm blind,
aren't I."
"Yup."
"Shit."
Rom glanced at Beni while Yuusuke comforted his friend. :This guy's
one of the pieces?:
:Yes.: Beni replied, climbing up onto Rom's back. :The Farseer.:
:A blind Farseer and a Hybrid without a full memory. What next?:
:I do not know. I may return his sight, but later. We are courting
disaster sitting here.:
:You've got a point.: "Heads up, kids," Rom rumbled softly, "we'd
better get home before something else decides to try eating us."
As if to illustrate his point, a Bonewraith swooped silently in and
landed with a clatter on the shortened stalagmite. Beni hissed
ferociously at the scavenger, scrambling down from his perch and
grabbing hold of one of the crab's claws. :Our meat! Get ye gone!:
"Who's there?" Kuwabara said, turning toward the unfamiliar voices.
"Friends." Rom answered shortly, taking hold of another claw. "Now
shut up, grab crab, and follow us."
Kuwabara blinked in confusion, but followed instructions, following
Yuusuke and the others away up the tunnel with a cluster of legs held
tightly in his arms. The Bonewraith watched them go impassively. There
would be other things for it to eat later.
Kuwabara let out a belch that shook fruits off of the ghost creepers
and sighed contentedly. "Man, what an improvement," he said, waving a
bit of empty shell at the others, "I dunno about you guys, but living
off of mushrooms is a pain in the butt."
"How'd you manage that?" Rom asked. "Yuusuke here tried it and wound
up mostly dead."
"Well, you see," Kuwabara smirked proudly, "I've got the gene."
"The gene?" Yuusuke asked, scowling.
"Yeah. You probably skipped the chemistry class for it, but my chem
teacher once brought in a bunch of little slips of paper with some
chemical or other on 'em. Most of us couldn't taste anything but paper
when we tried them, but me and a few others had to put up with the
nastiest flavor all day. Yech! Not even beer could get it out!
Anyway, the teacher told us that those of us whose taste buds were going
on strike had an old gene that was used for finding edible mushrooms
back in the caveman days. I just didn't eat anything that tasted awful,
is all."
:Wise of you.: Beni said, and reached over to touch him on the
forehead. :Stay still, Farseer, that I may return your sight to you.:
"Wha-?" Kuwabara gasped, and then froze midword as the milky cataracts
melted from his eyes.
"That was quick." Rom murmured to Beni while Kuwabara concentrated on
trying to look at everything at once.
:Flareblind, nothing more.: Beni replied, washing his hands and face
in the pool. :He looked into something too bright for him. There was
little real damage at all.: With that, he curled up between Rom's
forelegs and fell asleep.
"Hey! Nobody told me that the little guy was a healer!" Kuwabara
sputtered, rubbing at his face.
"You never asked." Rom replied, stroking Beni's ice-white hair. "He
can't do it very much or very often, though. I think it has to do with
the lack of sunlight."
"Huh. Just who are you two, anyway?" Kuwabara demanded.
"That's Romfelemars, Rom for short," Yuusuke introduced them, "And the
smaller one is Beni. Guys, this is Kuwabara, one of my friends."
"Hi." Rom said, reaching out a hand toward Kuwabara.
"Hi." Kuwabara answered a bit gingerly as his hand was enveloped by
Rom's hairy orange one. Kuwabara paused for a moment; the texture of
the fur was very familiar... "Ooo." He said, a big silly grin
spreading over his face. "Kitty fur. Nice kitty."
Yuusuke broke into helpless giggles- he couldn't help it.
Rom gave him a dirty look. "Care to explain this nonsense?"
"You're looking at one of the biggest cat lovers in all three worlds."
Yuusuke said between chortles. "Sorry, Rom."
Kuwabara moved around and started scratching Rom at the base of the
neck, deep under the mane, and making little meowing noises. Rom looked
for a moment like he was contemplating murder. Thinking better of it,
Rom let out a gusty sigh of resignation. "What the hell. Hair of
carrot, tact of brick. I've been there. Welcome to the team,
Kuwabara."
"Meow."
In order to head off the explosion, Yuusuke decided to change the
subject. "So, what are you doing down here, Kuwabara?"
"Same thing you are, man." Kuwabara replied. "Trying to stay alive,
and maybe find the others while I'm at it."
"What others?" Yuusuke asked, confused. He couldn't recall anything
about any others.
Kuwabara stopped stroking Rom's fur and stared at his friend. "What
others?! Kurama and Hiei, of course."
Blank look from Yuusuke.
"The fox and the shrimp," Kuwabara tried again. "Y'know, the other
half of the Reikai Tante, hell, the flippin' Urameshi team! Don't tell
me you've forgotten them."
"I led a team?" Yuusuke murmured half to himself.
"Remember I told you that he'd eaten the wrong mushrooms a while ago?"
Rom prodded the fuming redhead in the ribs with an elbow. "If Beni
hadn't purged him of the poison, he'd have been dead a long time since.
The fever fried his memory and he can't remember squat."
"I can remember most of my childhood, some parts of school, and my
mother." A wicked gleam dawned in Yuusuke's eyes. "And that time you
put that big wind-up rubber spider in the punch that one New Year's
party right before Shizuru filled her glass."
Kuwabara groaned. "You would remember that. We never did get the
stains out of the ceiling. Anything else?"
"Nope. As far as I can tell, my current history begins in a side
tunnel, being horribly sick. Sorry."
"Don't be. At least you could see."
"Not with the hallucinations I had to deal with. How did we wind up
down here, anyway?"
Kuwabara leaned back against Rom's flank with a mournful expression.
"It's a long story. You want to hear about it, or should I fill you in
on what we were doing working for a demigod first?"
Yuusuke swallowed hard. "I think I want to hear about the demigod."
Kuwabara crossed his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling for
a moment before beginning. "About four or five years ago, you got hit
by a car on the way home from school. It killed you."
"What?!"
"Shut up and listen. Anyway, the Angel of Death, who's a really cute
girl named Botan, by the way, found out that you'd knocked off too
early. That's when Koenma, Enma's kid, offered you a chance to come
back to life. You never really told us all that much about what you had
to do, but you did have to pass some important tests before you came
back. The last one, I think, was finding someone to give your body a
smooch at the right time." Kuwabara shuddered briefly, remembering a
dreadful nightmare. "Fortunately, that was Keiko, your girlfriend, and
she came close to being too late. After that, you had to become a
Spirit Detective for Koenma to pay for your resurrection. I got hauled
in later for my vital talents, of course. Kurama and Hiei were a couple
of criminals from the Makai who got forced into public service with us
for stealing a few really hazardous magical items. Even with that
little monster with us, we really got to be a great team, trashing bad
guys from one end of the Makai to the other! We even held our own in
the Ankoku Bujutskai, we're that good."
"So, what happened?" Yuusuke asked, gesturing with one hand to
indicate the Caverns.
"Enma decided to take us seriously for once." Kuwabara shook his head
in disgust. "Enma takes all of his son's little hobbies with a big
grain of salt, including the Reikai Tante. Don't blame him, though;
Koenma's such a pesty little wimp most of the time. Enma decided to
give us a real challenge by sending us out after an old enemy of his, a
sadistic freak named Kyaku."
Rom stiffened at the sound of that name. "Kyaku." He growled. "Too
much to hope that the bastard got himself killed, I guess."
"You ran into him too?" Kuwabara asked.
"Oh, yeah." Rom's three eyes glinted dangerously. "Damn near every
living thing in these caves and an awful lot of dead things, too, owe
their situation to Kyaku's lousy sense of humor. I tried to make him
pay for a few extra things he did, but..." Rom flicked his fingers
helplessly. "How do you drop an immortal of that caliber?"
"We were hoping you might be able to give us some tips?" Yuusuke said
with a weak laugh.
Rom chuckled bitterly. "No help here. You might ask Beni, though.
Lately, he's been coming up with all sorts of weird trivia."
They all looked speculatively at the smallest member of the group.
Beni continued to snooze, completely unaware of their interest.
They did ask him later, just to see if the tiny, pale child could
answer the question; they met with no success at all. It wasn't that
Beni couldn't grasp the concept of immortality, it was the concept of
time that had him all confused. :What is time?: He asked irritably.
:There is Now, there is Then, and there is Later. Greater and lesser
Time is not our worry. That is our Brother's department. This Kyaku
thing is finite, anyway. It will expire Later.:
After that, he refused to say anything at all, and Rom persuaded the
others not to push him. "Something I learned right from the start,
guys- when Beni starts talking about his family or himself in plurals,
don't keep asking! If you annoy him, he'll answer your questions. Take
my word for it- you don't want those answers."
"If you say so, Rom." Kuwabara said, and then scowled thoughtfully.
"Hold it. He said that Kyaku was finite- what's that mean?"
"That he can be killed." Yuusuke replied slowly, tasting the notion.
He liked it.
As part of the group, Kuwabara also had to learn the same lessons that
Yuusuke had received; what was safe to eat, and how to avoid those
creatures that would enjoy eating him. He caught on easily, and turned
out to be a great help in spidercrab hunts. That Rei Sword of his was a
potent weapon. He also tried to jog Yuusuke's impaired memory, but with
limited success only; Yuusuke couldn't for the life of him remember
anything about the other two members of the Reikai Tante, and nothing of
the team's adventures, either. Straining to recall these things only
gained him a dreadful headache that made him absolutely miserable until
Beni took pity on him and banished the pain with an admonishment. :Not
to rush it,: he was told, time and time again. More often than not,
Kuwabara was scolded for egging Yuusuke on.
Kuwabara took Beni's irritation rather poorly, however; Beni made
Kuwabara nervous. The three-layered strangeness of the pale child's
mind that had startled Yuusuke was even more unnerving for Kuwabara,
whose strong psychic gift made him far more sensitive to such things.
To Kuwabara, Beni's mind was a strange, interconnected veil of feline
and basic human instincts and emotions, a veil that concealed an
inconceivable entity that gazed back at all other beings with the same
intensity and indifference as a science professor looking at an
interesting new bacterium through a microscope.
Rom was a different matter entirely. Rom, no matter what he looked
like to the naked eye, was a great big fuzzy orange kitty-cat with lots
of long, silky orange fur that just begged to be petted. And since when
could Kuwabara resist petting a cat?
Rom grumbled about this --albeit not much-- and settled for shedding
all over the man whenever they went down to Deep Springs for a bath.
Romfelemars knew something was up the moment that his diminutive
partner snapped awake one "morning". Beni seemed to bore through the
very stone with his intent gaze, and stayed stock still in absolute
concentration for several minutes. He then relaxed, trotted over to
Rom, and began to comb tangles out of the thick fur with his claws.
"What was that all about?" Rom whispered; the others were still asleep,
and he didn't really want to disturb them.
:Crickets today, I think,: Beni replied cheerfully, :and maybe some
fish, too.: His mental images of sweet, crackly crickets and the
delicious taste of blind cave fish were sufficient to rouse Yuusuke and
Kuwabara from their slumber. :Also, another Piece if we go soon.: He
added privately to Rom.
:Izzat so?: "C'mon, you guys, up and at 'em." Rom reached over and
prodded Yuusuke's shoulder.
"I'd rather eat a bug." Kuwabara growled.
Yuusuke sat up with a huge yawn. "You've been eating them ever since
you joined up with us, Kuwabara."
"I know that, and it's been a real pain in the butt!" Kuwabara groaned
with longing. "I'd kill for a bowl of rice and pickled vegetables right now."
"I feel for you, man," Rom said, hauling himself to his feet, "but the
only pickle you'll find down here are the brine pits where the
spidercrabs go to lay their eggs, and only suicidal types risk going
there."
Kuwabara fixed Rom with a jaundiced glare. "Have you ever tried?"
"Once, and it wasn't worth the trip." Rom replied, making a face. "I
damn near lost an arm, and all for a handful of squashy, slimy round
things that tasted of moldy avocado. It ain't worth it, kid."
Not long after their discussion, they were wandering the dim-lit twists
and turns of Caverns Proper, hunting crickets and occasionally stopping
to let Beni catch a few fish. Their woven-vine baskets were nearly full
when Yuusuke spotted a furtive movement in a small alcove. This
wouldn't have been of interest usually; they sometimes discovered the
other denizens of the cave system wandering blearily around the tunnels
near the home cavern or lying in various stages of drugged stupor or
death on the floor. Yuusuke and the others had come further than they
normally did in search of food, and thus all foreign motion was
suspect. Mentally alerting the others, Yuusuke moved forward to
investigate. He managed to catch a glimpse of a long, soft-grey shape
and the gleam of a yellow eye before the ghost creepers suddenly tore
themselves off of the wall and tangled him up in their coils. A series
of grunts and yelps of protest behind him informed him that the others
hadn't escaped the rough treatment either.
"I've got you now, you disgusting perverts," an oddly familiar voice,
dripping with malice, trickled out of the darkness with an insane
giggle. "Think you'd have me so easily again? Oh, no, not so. I
think I will have my friendly little vines rip off your genitals and
force-feed them to you. Then I'll let them grow some thorns, nice long
ones, and we'll see how long it takes to flay you right down to the
bone. I'd like that. Wouldn't you?"
"No." Rom answered promptly.
"Holy shit!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "What'd we ever do to you, Kurama?"
There was a startled pause from the person in the alcove.
"Kurama?" Yuusuke said, head suddenly full of memories of a tall
redhead and a taller silver Kitsune. "What happened to you?"
Long, silent pause. "Kuwabara?" The voice quavered with emotion.
"Yuusuke? Is that really you?"
"It had better be," Kuwabara growled, struggling in the vines. "If it
isn't, I'm gonna file a complaint."
The vines tightened convulsively for a moment, then relaxed, crawling
back to their proper place on the walls of the cave. "You might as well
come in, then." Kurama said dully from the shadows. "Just don't get
too close."
There was barely enough room at the opening for all of them to squeeze
in, and a pathetic sight met their eyes. Scrawny, filthy, nearly naked,
and with hair and tail matted and dirty, Kurama sat at the back of the
alcove, staring at them with eyes both bloodshot and feral. Much of his
exposed skin was covered with bruises and crusted-over scrapes, and his
right ankle was attached to the stone floor with an ancient, rust-pitted
manacle. He was not the elegant creature that Yuusuke remembered
anymore; he resembled a suffering animal caught in a trap, just minutes
away from gnawing off his own leg.
"Yeesh! And I thought we had problems! Hold on while I crack you
loose of that..." Kuwabara manifested his Rei Sword and reached for the
chain, only to dodge a slashing blow from Kurama.
"Don't touch me!" Kurama hissed, eyes flashing.
"Kurama, just how the hell are we supposed to free you if you won't let
us come near you?" Yuusuke asked.
"I don't care. Just do it or go away." Kurama whimpered in despair.
"Rom, you got any ideas?" Kuwabara asked.
"Nope, short of holding him down while you use that sword of yours-"
There was an angry hiss from the fox.
"-but I don't think that would be a good thing." Rom finished, wincing
at the look Kurama was giving him.
Yuusuke was about to suggest that he do it anyway when he was nearly
bowled over by a powerful sense of sympathy, compassion, and reassurance
from Beni, who was projecting those feelings at Kurama like an amplifier
on full volume. :We are friends, friends, friends, we will not hurt
you,: Beni told him. :We will protect you, heal you, we will give
freely of food and water, shelter you against those who seek your life.
We will clean you, comb your fur free of tangles, offer you friendship,
partnership. Be calm, do not fear. We are your friends. Rom, get that
obscene thing off of his ankle.:
Kurama was so bemused by the flood of warm emotions that he barely
twitched when Rom snapped the brittle iron cuff in two. "Can you walk,
little brother?" Rom murmured, unwilling to upset the fox by helping
him up.
Kurama blinked and attempted to get upright, using the wall at his back
for support. It didn't work. His legs failed him after the first step,
sending him face-first into Yuusuke's front. Kurama hissed like a steam
explosion and jerked back violently, sliding into an ungraceful heap on
the floor. "Total blowout." Yuusuke muttered to himself. "Beni, if
you would-"
Beni was way ahead of him. :Sleep,: he commanded, and Kurama did.
Rom lifted the Kitsune off of the floor and turned to leave, motioning
the others to follow him. "Back home we go, guys. We've enough to feed
all of us anyway."
They travelled in silence for some time before Yuusuke decided to get a
question off of his mind. :Hey, Rom? Why'd you call him your little
brother? You two aren't related, are you?:
Rom snorted with amusement and shook his head. :Not really, but close
enough to count for something. Foxes are stuck somewhere between cat
and dog; as Kuwabara can tell you, I'm mostly cat. Besides, I'm bigger
than Kurama is.:
:By the way, Beni,: Rom added privately to the smallest member of their
group, :Just which piece is this one?:
:Twiceborn.: Beni replied promptly.
:You know, that makes about as much sense as the names the other ones
have-- exactly zap-squee.:
:I know. Wait. Revelation will come later.:
:Beni, you are entirely too mysterious for your own good sometimes.:
:Yes.:
Kurama must not have gotten much sleep in that alcove, for he did not
so much as bat an eyelash when Rom laid him out in the hollow they used
for sleeping; instead, he curled up with a sigh and began to snore very
softly. Beni was not content to leave him alone, however. Several of
Kurama's scrapes had gone red and nasty, and a few leaked blood and pus
from where they had torn open when he had made his attempt to get up.
Yuusuke and Kuwabara crowded close to watch as Beni used his healing
talent; they'd never seen it for themselves. Under those small white
hands, the swellings subsided and returned to a more natural color, torn
skin closed up without a trace and bruises vanished completely. Kurama
was still thin, tangled and dirty when Beni was done, but on the whole,
he looked a lot better. As for Beni, he wandered back over to Rom,
crawled up into his arms and passed out cold.
Kuwabara watched this rather mournfully. When Yuusuke asked him what
was wrong, Kuwabara started to sniffle. "Yukina has healing powers
too. Gods, I wish she was here. Oh, hell, what am I talking about?!
She'd hate this place. I wish I was where she is!" He burst into
tears.
Rom and Yuusuke did their best to comfort him, but with little
success. "A girlfriend, I take it?" Rom asked.
"Yeah." Yuusuke answered. "And she likes him too, I think."
Kurama came out of his deep sleep with a bad case of the horrors. He
didn't know where he was, he wasn't too sure who or what he was at the
moment, and he wasn't alone; something warm was pressing up against his
back. He scrambled away from that pressure with a snarl, ready to do
mayhem if it tried anything funny. All he got, however, was a sleepy,
disgruntled glare from a pair of slit-pupilled grey eyes and an
irritated growl. Beni and Kurama traded wary stares for a few minutes,
until Beni lost his patience with the paranoid fox and went to get a
drink from the pool. Kurama watched him splash about a bit, and then
took a good look at his surroundings. He was in a large, fairly
well-lit room with its own private waterfall, ghost creepers growing
thickly on the walls, piles of simple tools and other debris here and
there, and a thin layer of orange cat hair all over everything. Other
than the little pale one, Kurama was alone. His rescue hadn't been a
dream, and that knowledge comforted him greatly. What's more, he didn't
ache anywhere. Hunger and thirst were a different matter entirely, so
he moved over to the pool for a drink, keeping a wary eye on his
companion. Beni ignored Kurama's suspicion completely by walking over
to the ghost creepers in search of ripe fruit, leaving the Kitsune
plenty of room. Kurama turned and drank deeply of the icy liquid, and
then looked at his reflection in the water. Yech. He needed a bath,
and badly-- the mats in his hair alone would take hours to get out, and
how thin he had grown! He was almost glad that Hiei was not here to see
him like this... Tears trickled forlornly down his face as he wondered
whether or not Hiei was alive at all. Would he ever see that ruby-eyed,
elfin little face again, so beautiful in its sternness? Would he ever
feel the taut strength of Hiei's wiry body, witness the sleek grace of
his movements? How Kurama missed him! Even if Hiei turned up somewhere
along the line, could Kurama bear even his touch? Kurama shuddered.
Ever since those perverted, half-mad demons had chained him in that
alcove, his skin seemed to cry out in horror at the touch of another.
Something prodded his elbow. Kurama leaped aside with a sharp snarl,
aiming a slashing blow with his long, sharp nails at whoever had
disturbed him. He missed, arm swinging wildly through the air,
overbalancing him badly and sending him sprawling. Beni watched him
righting himself for a few moments, and then offered him a fruit.
Kurama hesitated before taking it; usually he had to pay for his
meals...
:Take it and eat.: Beni told him. :You have already collapsed on us
once; any more would be embarrassing for all. Yuusuke, Kuwabara, and
Rom will bring us meat soon.:
Kurama blinked, but took the fruit, biting deep into the tangy flesh.
Beni passed him a handful of mushrooms once he had finished it, and a
leftover roast cricket after that.
:We will make no demands of you that you are unwilling to give.: Beni
continued, handing Kurama another cricket. :Yuusuke and Kuwabara are
your friends, Rom is too big, and I... I cannot. You are safe here.:
Kurama almost choked on his cricket. "Y-you know what happened to me?"
:Your very being screams of it. I do not understand it, but you have
been hurt inside somewhere, and you fear the intimacy of strangers
greatly. Be calm. Healing will come later.:
"Are you a seer or something?" Kurama asked.
Beni thought about this for a moment. :Later makes shadows on Now.
Sometimes the important parts of Later cast sharp shadows. These can
be sensed and acted upon.:
Before Kurama could ask any more questions, the doorstone ground
noisily aside and Yuusuke and the others struggled through the passage
with a massive spidercrab. Their return might have been more impressive
if the crab hadn't got stuck halfway through.
"Oh, goddamnit, the stupid thing's jammed." Kuwabara grunted, hauling
on a fighting claw. "Rom, give it a real shove, will you?"
"If I did, I'd squish Yuusuke." Rom replied. "I don't think he'd like
that."
"Damn straight!" Yuusuke chimed in from somewhere underneath the giant
crustacean. "Plus, I've gotta keep a grip on these little ones... OW!
Dammit, the little bastards pinch! Just cut off a few chunks,
Kuwabara."
"Now why didn't I think of that?" Kuwabara said, firing up his Rei
Sword and hacking at various legs and claws.
"Don't make me answer that." Yuusuke growled, climbing through the gap
that Kuwabara had made, sucking on a sore knuckle.
Kurama tried to focus on what Yuusuke was carrying; it turned out to be
a tightly-woven gourd-shaped basket full of dozens of spidercrabs, each
one no bigger than a golf ball. Though small, the little beasts were as
vicious as the adult crabs, reaching through the gaps of the weave and
snapping at Yuusuke's hands with their fighting claws. Yuusuke put the
basket down near the firepit with some relief and went to help the
others haul the big one through the entry passage. Kurama ventured
over to peer at the basket's contents hungrily. He had caught one a bit
bigger than these before by playing dead. Even raw, they were well
worth wrestling out of the shell.
"Don't even think about setting them loose, Kurama!" Kuwabara called
to him. "They're a pain in the butt to catch!"
"Literally." Rom chuckled, shoving the now-mangled carcass out of the
way and rolling the doorstone back into position. "Three of 'em ran up
his pant legs. He shan't be sitting comfortably for a while, let me
tell you!"
"Oh, shut up!" Kuwabara grumped.
"At least we got them out before they grabbed anything essential."
Yuusuke said as Kurama dissolved into a fit of giggles.
"You're no help." Kuwabara glowered at the fox-spirit. "Hell with
it. Hey, Beni, stoke up a cookfire, will you?"
The banging of flints echoed around the room as the Rom and Kuwabara
prepared the big spidercrab for cooking, and Yuusuke began to dispatch
the smaller ones by banging them one at a time with a rock. "So, how've
you been?" He asked Kurama between sharp cracks of breaking chitin.
"Other than being forced into prostitution, I mean."
Kurama hesitated to answer. How to describe the endless hours of
abuse, pain, loneliness, hunger, and despair? "Awful." He said at
last.
Yuusuke gave him a sympathetic look. "If it makes you feel any better,
I almost died from mushroom poisoning and Kuwabara was blind before we
found him. Didn't stop him from killing a big crab by mistake."
A manic giggle clawed its way up Kurama's throat. "Only Kuwabara could
do that. Hiei... Hiei would say that the crab should've gotten him
instead, it would keep him away from Yukina." His fit of giggles
trailed off into tears. "Oh, sweet Inari... D-did you know that-- that
right after one of those bastards had had his way with me, a thing made
of shadows tore his soul out right in front of me, and then a big crab
came to finish off the corpse? I almost called the shadow-thing back,
so it could take me too. But I didn't want anything that had- had found
that pervert tasty to lay its fangs on me; it would be contaminated you
see, and Hiei would be so disappointed, and, and, and..." Kurama
couldn't speak any more; his throat had closed with tears.
Yuusuke reached out to his friend, but was repelled by the look he got
from those bloodshot eyes. He sat back and started whacking crabs
again. "After we eat, I'll ask Rom and Beni if they'll take us to Deep
Springs for a hot bath. I think it'll make us all feel better."
A fizzling noise and a feeling of frustration interrupted their
conversation; the fire refused to light. Beni gave Rom a look of
entreaty and tossed the worn flints away. Rom smiled indulgently and
put down his bunch of crab legs. "Be right there." He said, coming to
the firepit.
Bending down so his chin nearly touched the firewood, he blew gently
through the circle of his thumb and forefinger. To nearly everyone's
surprise, a small tongue of flame licked out and set the dried vines
ablaze.
"Hey!" Kuwabara cried, "I didn't know you had fire magic!"
"I almost don't." Rom shrugged. "I used to know all sorts of
pyrotechnics, but Kyaku stripped me of just about everything before
throwing me down here. Playing firelighter is the best I can muster
these days. Hey, what's with Yuusuke?"
Yuusuke had forgotten about his basket of crablings entirely and was
staring fixedly at his finger. Something about Rom's little trick had
knocked another fragment of memory loose, the memory of a very small
child floating in the air around him, explaining something very
important. "...Concentrate on your finger..." The child had said, and
he did so now without hardly thinking about it at all. It seemed...
automatic for some reason. His fingernail started to glow with an
ethereal blue light, pulsing brighter every second. Kuwabara knew
exactly what that meant. "Hit the dirt!" he shouted and dove for the
floor, the others not far behind him.
A blast of wild, uncontrolled power suddenly leaped from Yuusuke's
hand, lighting the cave to an eye-blinding brilliance and scorching a
perfect chrysanthemum on the stone of the ceiling. In protest, the
ghost creeper vines unloaded their entire supply of fruit; ripe,
underripe, and overripe all at once.
For a few minutes, there was stunned silence in the home cavern.
"Oh," Yuusuke said, suddenly tired, "so that's what it's for."