(( Okay, this isn't my best work, but I'm gonna try to put something in for Shadow. >.< ))

Shadow looked up as the cage of light disappeared around him, but made no moves to stand or try to escape. He continued to sit there, smiling widely, his sharp teeth showing as he looked at Hiei. "You young oness are foolss." Shadow spoke softly before tilting his head slightly to the side, staring beyond the lights standing in front of him towards the stronger Light that had fallen dim. "I do not intend to fight. I merely sseek to ssurvive." Shadow's head snapped sharply in the direction where Genkai and the others were. "Hmm, it would sseem I did more harm than I meant to." He said as casually as if he were discussing the weather.

Kuwabara nodded to Yukina. "Yukina, my love, are you sure you don't want some help here? If not, I'll help the others." he said and waited for her response. As much as he'd rather not leave her side, so he could keep her protected, he would help the others. Something was going on out there.

Yukina shook her head. "I'm fine. Please go help with the fight, Kazuma-kun." She looked up at the tall human boy, her deep concern for Hiei's safety showing clearly on her face.

Hiei ignored Shadow's insult and maintained his ready stance. "You will not survive if you continue to threaten us." He promised grimly.

Despite being a total stranger, Kat felt oddly compelled to watch over Taykayo. Encouraged by that bizarre urge, she found herself lifting the boy from the ground and up into her arms protectively. Forever stubborn, the demoness wasn't outwardly intimidated by Shadow's presence. She could feel just from his energy that he was bad news. There was no doubt about that. However, the creature was hopelessly outnumbered. If he wanted to get to the human boy, he'd have to get through just about everyone present first. "No matter what you try, you can't have him." Her tone was firm, definite. It wasn't right for demons like Shadow to linger in the human world and pray on the innocent. Even if there was something more to this school boy than met the eye, he was still, physically, just a human.

.::.

Initially, Yusuke was mentally torn between staying by Genkai's side and rushing outside to protect the others. "Genkai.. You hang in there ya old bat. I'll be back soon." The teenager murmured to his unconscious teacher, brushing a strand of aging pink hair from her face before leaving Yukina alone to work. He felt immensely confident in the ice apparition's abilities as a healer. With Yukina on the job, Genkai would pull through just fine. Until then, there was some audacious demon outside who had dared to harm his Sensei. Once outside, a strange, ancient energy hit the spirit detective moments before his brown, narrowed eyes landed on the creature for the first time. It took every ounce of restraint the teenage boy could muster to hold himself back from charging in and beating the being to a bloody pulp right then and there. Instead, Urameshi made his way to the others with his fists clenched white at his sides, "Are you the one who injured Genkai?" Venom dripped from each word.

((Thanks Mora. You did great with Shadow, not exactly what I would have done, but good nonetheless... ^ ^ ))

Shadow looked up as another one of them walked over. This one possessed a very unique light, and it was stronger than most of the others, apart from the Light he sought. The corner of his mouth twitched as if he wanted to smiled or smirk, but the force and authority in the human's words kept him from smiling. "I might have been sso inclined to get her out of my way." Shadow spoke with ease as he tilted his head to the side. "My intention wass not to harm the old lady. I merely ssought thiss one." He said and pointed a clawed finger at Taykayo who was unconscious. "Though it sseemss I have sset my poisson on the old one." Shadow smiled. "I can remove it for you. Sshe will recover fasster once it iss gone." His voice seemed to lack the hypnotic properties from earlier as he looked only at the human who had spoken to him. He was an ancient beast of a demon, but he was not a barbarian. The way he saw it, he only took what he needed to survive, and those of Spirit World seemed to see that as a crime for him.

Kurama felt Hiei's presence nearby and felt both relieved and worried. He was happy to know that Hiei supported him in his efforts to protect Taykayo but concerned that should he fight, he might waste valuable reserves of energy.

Hearing Shadow speak however, called forth a pang of guilt Kurama lowered his defenses slightly without taking notice. This demon lived not unlike his own fox spirit used to, seeking merely to survive from day to day; from eon to eon. Hiei's words however cued Kurama to pull himself back to the threat before him. He had made similar mistakes with his overly compassionate heart during the Dark Tournament and would not make the same mistake now.

Kurama was a bit surprised when even Katsumi joined in, lifting Taykayo protectively from the ground behind him. Still, she was just as weakened as Hiei and likely wouldn't prove hardy enough for another fight so soon. Still, if Hiei could serve as a distraction as Katsumi pulled Taykayo away from the fight, the two weakened fighters could still prove to be useful. Strategies were already coming to mind as he eyed up his opponent. Still, for now, he would wait for the demon to make it's first move.

Kurama was still staring the demon down when Yusuke approached from the temple and he didn't seem in a negotiating mood. Kurama could understand his concern however. He had already gone through the ordeal of losing his sensi once and Kurama could feel the human boy's fear masked behind furious rage. Shadow however, didn't seem phased by his presence and in fact seemed to be offering to help them? If poison was what was plaguing the old woman, Kurama was confident he could cure her of it using his own methods but the process would likely go more quickly should the demon remove it himself. The question however was whether or not they should trust him to do so...

The creature's wispy words basically slipped in one ear and immediately out the other. Yusuke didn't particularly care who or what this demon was, so he could care less about his intentions. All he knew was that this monster had way overstepped his boundaries the moment he, unintentionally as he says, harmed Genkai. Shadow's claim to be able to heal and free the elderly woman from his own poison also fell on mostly deaf ears. The spirit detective knew full well that Kurama was an expert with an unimaginable array of plants and poisons. Why should the teenager even entertain the thought of trusting his beloved teacher to this being when his own friend was perfectly capable of doing the same job? "You can take the poison out? That's your saving grace? You can remove poison?" Urameshi repeated violently, hands clenched white down by his sides as his infamous temper grew shorter with each passing second. "Is that it? Is that the reason I shouldn't BLOW your head OFF right now?"

(( Akira gave me a hand-written post for Shadow, so here it is. And a post for Tay, poor kid. ))

Shadow hardly flinched at the sound of Yusuke's words and instead merely grinned. "Thosse are nice little commentss, but I'm afraid I'm not sso eassy to kill." Shadow said calmly, though his tone indicated his amusement at the situation. Without making any noticable moves, he stood up and looked down at the Spirit Detective. His eerie green eyes narrowed as he paused to think. "What you do not undersstand iss that the poisson from my clawss iss extremely deadly." He said, his eyes narrowed and dangerous. At the moment, his voice lacked the hypnotic tone. "If we sstand here bickering and do nothing, your teacher will be dead within the next couple of minutess." Shadows lips curved into a deadly sneer. "No matter how good your healer iss, the poisson will not be held at bay. All that will happen iss that it will attack every nerve and vein in the body until it finally reachess the heart. For now, you have about... oh let uss ssee, four minutess?" Shadow lost the smile and for once his expression remained deadly serious.

With a fit of coughing, Taykayo woke up, staring at the ground and panting for breath. "D-don't listen to him." He managed to utter after a moment. He lifted his head, though the effort alone was making him queasy. "Bring me to Genkai. Please." Taykayo let his head drop to the ground, and he stared to the side at someone's shoes. He couldn't tell who they belonged to at the moment. "I can do something. Just don't trust him." Taykayo found himself doubling over on the ground with another coughing fit. When it was over, all he could do was try to catch his breath. "Hurry." It was all he could say.

Kurama watched the scene between Yusuke and Shadow silent and immobile. In his head he was aware of the seconds counting down as Shadow's poison flowed through Genkai's body and realized that he would have to move soon. Shadow seemed intent on hammering that point home as well though Kurama couldn't discern whether it was an attempt to sway Yusuke to allow him to undo his actions or just to taunt him further.

Kurama was interrupted in this thought when Taykayo broke out in a fit of coughing. His classmate seemed to believe he could be of assistance but Kurama found that idea astounding. Although the boy's powers had been progressing quite rapidly in the past few days, he doubted that Taykayo had the stamina to keep up with them, especially after using nearly every ounce of his reserves to contain Shadow moments ago.

Kurama made his decision. Yusuke was ready and raring for a fight and his anger would only fuel his spirit energy and fighting spirit. He was confident that the spirit detective would be able to last long enough for him to neutralize the poison in Genkai's aging veins. If Urameshi was having difficulties at that point, he would be able to join the fight with a clear conscience knowing that Genkai was safe. He was also quite certain that with Yusuke fighting for a personal vendetta, Hiei would have the sense of honor to stay out of things. "Katsumi, bring him inside," Kurama said, referring to Taykayo. Even if they boy wasn't able to perform with his lack of energy, Shuichi would feel better known the boy was out of harm's way.

Not bothering to see if the demoness would follow his order, Kurama dashed for the temple, his bright red hair billowing out behind him. Inside he found Yukina kneeling next to a very pale looking Genkai and Kuwabara standing around looking helpless. Dropping to the floor next to Yukina he examined the claw mark on her neck, carefully noting the coloration of the flesh and the subtle smell that accompanied the poison. True to Shadow's statement it was indeed a nerve poison that would slowly spread and eventually bring all of the body's functions to a halt. Carefully making his selection, Kurama pulled a handful of seeds from somewhere behind his neck and wordlessly set to work.

Hiei watched Kurama go, and then flitted to flank Shadow so he wouldn't escape when Kat moved as well. 'Go, Woman, and send that idiot out so he can make himself useful.' He growled at Kat, silently.

Yukina smiled gratefully at Kurama but did not let up her attempts to slow the effects of the poison. Having quickly realized she wouldn't be able to remove the poison, she was focusing solely on keeping the poison from spreading into any of Genkai's vital organs.

Kurama didn't even notice Yukina's smile, he was so absorbed in his work. Holding a seed he had chosen between thumb and forefinger, Kurama called upon his spirit energy and sent it flowing through his arm and down to his fingertips where it began feeding the tiny piece of dormant plant life. Slowly, the seed began to bloom before his eyes, first pushing up into a small bud and then extending itself into a vine that reached upwards. In a few moments time the seed had completely devolved and small pods hung from the delicate vine-like plant that sat in his hand.

Breaking off two of this plant's seed pods, he placed them on the floor before him and allowed the plant in his hand to shrivel and die as he cut the spirit energy that had been feeding it. Tossing the shriveled remnants aside he transformed a blade of grass that had stuck itself to his shoe into a tiny blade. Using this implement he cut open the seed pods. Carefully scraping the seeds to the side, he turned the pods inside out and then smeared each one against the wounds that marked Genkai's neck. This would neutralize the poison at the point of entry but his work was not finished yet.

Katsumi had been so absorbed with Shadow's unique presence that she was initially caught off guard by Taykayo's stirring. Was she really so tired that she couldn't even keep tabs on a human properly? With brows slightly furrowed, she watched as the blond nearly hack a lung out in some kind of fit. 'Is this kid sick or what?' The girl didn't know what to do. The boy was obviously suffering from some ailment that she couldn't immediately diagnose, and there was nothing that she could do to make it stop. Just as she extended a hand out to comfort him, Kurama's voice reach her eye, urging her to bring the boy inside. Without much delay, the brunette gave a quick nod in agreement and carefully scooped Taykayo up into her arms. "I'm sorry. I'll put you down soon, alright?" She mumbled softly, hoping that the position wouldn't upset his condition or coax out another coughing fit.

Before the demoness could will herself to trail after Kurama, she gave a final split glance to the detective and smaller fire demon. Surely, they could handle this creature without her assistance. This Yusuke person appeared to be willing to tackle the intruder all on his own, his blatantly fluctuating spirit energy was as much a testament to that as the anger-laced words that came from his mouth. It was a strong vibe from Hiei that quickly sent her off toward the temple with Taykayo in tow. "Kurama? Where should I set him down?" It took her a couple seconds to track the energy being poured into Genkai and locate the redhead with his blue-haired friend. Blue eyes narrowed in obvious pity for the elderly woman's state. It didn't take a rocket scientist to tell that she was not doing very well.

.::.

Urameshi knew that Genkai was in trouble. He may be rash, but he wasn't a total moron. "No, you've got four minutes to explain what you could possibly do to help Genkai and why I shouldn't blow you to pieces." The boy spat, knuckles cracking and popping from the stress exerted upon them. Yusuke didn't particularly care who or what this creature before him was. As far as he could tell, he had hurt his teacher. The last time anyone, Toguro, had laid hands on Genkai, it led to death. This thing wouldn't be any different. The spirit detective took a step forward, normally playfully cocky, brown eyes now searing with an intense loathing. "Well, anything else?"

Kuwabara looked up as Kurama came into the room, followed shortly by Katsumi, who was carrying Taykayo. He walked over and took Taykayo from her, looking at the kid he asked, "Where do you want to be put down?"
Taykayo smiled weakly at Kuwabara. "Put me down next to Genkai, please." Kuwabara obeyed and Taykayo grunted as he was put on the floor. He glanced over at Yukina and took a deep breath. "Give me your hand, please. I'll need a little help to locate the poison in her veins." He explained as he held his hand out to the ice demoness.
Kuwabara looked up at Katsumi and sighed. "Okay. Yukina, I'm gonna go help Urameshi. If you need me, just yell, okay?" He smiled and then ran off outside to see that Yusuke was staring down the beast. Well, Yusuke was definitely pissed off, that was a good and bad thing.

Shadow held his hands in the air, as if giving up, a smile on his face with his fangs showing. "Well, it sseemss that no matter what I ssay, you will not believe me." His eyes narrowed, though one could still tell that he was amused. "If your friendss are lucky, they might be able to ssave her." Shadow shrugged as though he didn't care, but he looked over at Yusuke. He looked down at the body of the demon they had killed earlier and he smiled. "Hmm, I recall meeting thiss demon before. An old friend of mine, we went our sseperate wayss a few yearss back." He walked over to the body and looked him over. "Now that iss a peculiar sscent." Shadow backed away from the body, eyes narrowed and mouth set into a frown. "Human, definitely human. Your demon friend here hass been hanging around ssome of them." Shadow sighed and looked over at Yusuke. "I doubt that there iss anything I can ssay to make you trusst me. Sso, if you want to take your anger out on ssomeone, why not the persson who ssent him?" Shadow asked.

Hiei pondered Shadow's information thoughtfully. While he wasn't fond of the idea of having such a volatile ally, it wasn't a situation he was unacquainted with either. Perhaps the creature could be useful....if they could guarantee it's cooperation somehow. 'Perhaps we should consider this creature's usefulness as a tracker.' He mentally urged Yusuke. 'Kurama is the best we have but he's too immersed in the human world to have noticed what this one did.'

Yukina spared Tay a glance and balked at his suggestion. "You look like you need healing yourself, Taykayo-san. Rest. I have the poison contained and Kurama is making an antidote. You have done enough already." She smiled to take the sting from her words, hoping it would also set the boy's mind at ease about Genkai's chances. Yukina then turned all her attention back to her continued efforts to keep Genkai stable while Kurama finished his plant remedy.

Taykayo shook his head as he placed one hand over Genkai. "You don't quite understand. She has less time than he told us she has left. If we can't find the poison and freeze it before Kurama can make an antidote, she'll be dead in under a minute." Taykayo glanced up at Kurama. "That is why I told you not to trust him. Please, Yukina, help me with this. I can't control ice, but you can." Taykayo's look was pleading, and though he looked fairly weak, he also looked like he could handle at least this much.

Yukina frowned. She had the poison mostly isolated already, and Kurama's remedy had neutralized some of it near the wound, so she didn't think Genkai was in that much danger...but at the same time she couldn't risk being wrong. "What do you suggest, Tay-san?" She asked after only a moment's hesitation.

"She's right Taykayo," Kurama said, not pausing in his work, "Don't overdo it." Taykayo however, didn't seem to be listening. Kurama ignored that fact, he didn't have time to deal with stubbornness at the moment and instead concentrated on growing another, distinctly foreign plant, up the length of his arm with yet another seed plucked from the depths of his red hair.

He did however pause for the briefest of moments when Taykayo spoke again moments later. Less time? What gave Taykayo the idea that Shadow had been lying? Had he seen another vision while passed out on the ground? Kurama didn't have time to think that over at the moment however if what his classmate had said was right, he may not even have the time to finish the appropriate antidote.

From the vine on his arm he began feverishly picking small round red berries and mashing them into a paste on his palm regretting that he did not have the time for a mortar and pestle. As he worked he spoke, "I don't know what you're planning Taykayo...but you can't freeze liquid within the bloodstream. It could lead to clotting and if the poison didn't kill her the stroke might."

Even if Taykayo didn't think he'd finish in time, Kurama wouldn't stop now. Even if his classmate's plan did work, the old woman would likely still need the antidote to fully negate the effects. He worked as quickly as his nimble appendages would allow him, smearing berries here, mashing roots there, and forming it all into a heavy paste on his palm. The final step in the process would be to mix it with liquid to allow the mixture to slide down the unconscious woman's throat.

Taykayo looked up at Kurama, a defiant look in his eyes. "I know what I'm doing." Taykayo said in a rather firm voice compared to how weak he looked. He then turned his eyes towards Yukina. "All I need is to concentrate on the poison. I need to locate it and we need to keep it from spreading further." He took a deep breath. "Freezing this poison won't actually freeze it, it'll only slow it down." Taykayo reached for Yukina's hand again. "Just put your hand on mine, I'll start trying to locate the poison." Taykayo said and without any further word a soft white glow emanated from the palm he was holding over Genkai's body.

Yukina blinked but kept her expression blank. 'That is what I am already doing.' She thought to herself, somewhat annoyed by Tay's apparent lack of trust in her knowledge of healing. Still, arguing wouldn't do Genkai any good. "I already have the poison isolated. Look for my energy and you'll find it." She told the boy politely. She was careful to keep her annoyance out of her voice as always. "Are you planning to help me hold it in stasis?"

Hiei felt a tendril of his sister's annoyance at the back of his mind. He idly wondered what the others would think if they knew the mild mannered Koorime was often just as easily agitated as himself. She just masked it a lot better. 'Maybe it's the ice...' Pushing that train of thought aside, Hiei continued to study Shadow for possible weaknesses or any sign that the creature was moving to attack.

"Person who sent them?" Brown eyes narrowed as Yusuke took another step toward the creature. "What are you talking about?" His tone harsh, practically spitting each word. In the back of his mind, the teenager could hear Hiei saying that this thing might still be useful to them. As much as it pained him to admit it, Urameshi knew that to probably be true too. He sucked in a deep breath in a futile attempt to calm his infamous temper. Whether it was this Shadow or not, the detective needed to punch something, anything. Unless he got some pretty great information in the next moment or so, there was no telling how much longer he had until he blew. In fact, it was kind of out of character that he had even managed to hold back this long. "If you know something, you'd better get to talking."

Taykayo frowned slightly as he concentrated and located Yukina's energy holding the poison at bay, but something felt wrong to him. He was a little taken aback by the tension permeating the air. "I'm sorry." He said softly to both of them. "I'm just really worried." Taykayo knew that he only had so much energy left, but he had to do something to help.

Kuwabara wasn't really sure what to do at this point, so all he could do was stand and watch. This beast thing seemed to have some kind of information or something. He wasn't sure that he would trust this demon's word though, but then... this guy really creeped him out. To him, it was almost like staring at the older Toguro brother, but worse. So much worse... Kuwabara shuddered from the thought.
Shadow sighed and frowned, but didn't even move as the spirit detective drew closer. "Yess, the persson who ssent thiss one." Shadow nudged the corpse with his foot, the smell of the blood alluring to his senses. "He hass been hanging around ssome human... and a powerful one at that." Shadow shrugged as he tilted his head and smiled slightly at Yusuke. "My guesss would be that it hass ssomething to do with the sstrange sscent of demon world that hass appeared lately." He popped into a squat, hands on his knees with his butt only inches from the ground. "If you think you need to hit me, go ahead. It might be amussing for me." Shadow figured that even if he had more decent information the boy would attack him anyway.

Keiko sat alone in a corner, unable to really do anything but watch Kurama and the others work on Genkai. She had witnessed what happened once when the old woman had died, and she really didn't want to see that again. She pulled her knees closer to herself and held them there.

Yukina softened, warmth seeming to creep back into the room. "It's okay, we're all doing our best. She'll be fine." She told the boy with slightly more conviction than she felt. "If you can help me to buy Kurama-san more time, please do." She said softly, never ceasing her attempts to further isolate the poison and pull it from Genkai's battered body.

Kurama grew concerned from the lack of battle noise outside. Just what was Yusuke doing out there? Finding out would have to wait for later however as the fox rushed to finish the antidote. He could only hope that the others were holding their own out there as he concentrated on fighting his own battle against time. He would never forgive himself if the old woman died because he knew he would be the only one responsible if she did.

"So smug," Yusuke huffed, tossing his head to the side in annoyance before suddenly bolting forward at an inhuman, blurring speed. Perhaps he was being far too arrogant, blindly charging towards an enemy he had absolutely no idea about. Not that he cared, this was Yusuke after all. Once he was mere feet and seconds away from colliding with the ancient creature, the teenager reared his right arm back. 'If I could take out that freak Toguro, this should be a piece of cake.' Overconfidence swelled within his chest as an accompanying, cocky smirk spread across his face and the spirit detective poured all his strength into his hand before flinging his fist forward. If all went according to plan, the jab would land and Yusuke would successfully knock this guy off his little pedestal. If not, he was sure that he had enough in him for at least one more shot with his spirit gun. It wasn't like the demon didn't deserve all he could get for what he had done anyway. "You'll pay for what you did to Genkai!"

Shadow smirked as the human charged at him. The boy was unusually fast, but just slow enough for his eyes to keep up. In the split-second just before the human's fist would land, Shadow moved to the side to avoid the attack completely, revealing that he was just as quick, if possibly faster than Hiei, though perhaps only at the moment. He had barely moved at all, and stood directly next to the spirit detective, the same cocky smirk on his face. Other than moving, Shadow did nothing, not even a counter-attack to knock the human completely off balance. If he wanted to, he knew he could strike instantly, like a snake, but that wasn't his intention. His eyes quickly glanced over to the shining aura inside the temple, and then back to the human's duller aura. He stood and waited for the spirit detective to recover.

Taykayo nodded to Yukina and concentrated on their task of keeping the poison isolated, preventing it from spreading through the old woman's veins. He glanced over at Kurama, a bit nervously and hoped that he would have the cure soon. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out, but Taykayo was determined to give it everything he had. Despite what the man in black had said to him, he found it hard not to trust Kurama and his friends. They were so nice it was hard to think they might be the bad guys here. He took a deep breath and refocused, he couldn't afford to lose track of his thoughts.

Kuwabara watched in shock as the silver-haired beast moved out of the way of Yusuke's attack, but he barely moved. He'd just barely seen the movement, a blur of color that indicated the demon had moved at all. He was about to shout a warning to the spirit detective, but found it wasn't necessary. The demon's body language clearly said that he wasn't going to attack any time soon, but wait and see what Yusuke would do next. Kuwabara frowned at that, but decided that his friend and rival could handle the beast well enough on his own.