((Yay posts! ^__^ I swear I look forward to this every day))

"Shouldn' you be hoping I die, then?" Aleron asked with a humorless smile as she slashed through the demons around her. Loki promptly whacked her in the calf with his tail, making her step back and rest for a moment before she launched herself into the fray again.

"I'm fine. Whoa! Your wing!" Aleron immediately moved to cover Yue. "Sweetie, my injury isn't bad. That is. Don't you dare die on me. You need to rest for a minute so the bleeding will stop."

"Agreed." Kurama moved up on Yue's other side, helping to cover her and give her some time to rest. "We can handle this. Just rest for a minute." He glanced at Yusuke to make sure the detective was well before he glanced at Aleron's wound.

"You really shouldn't be running around with your leg like that," he commented lightly as he sliced a demon down from above her.

"This? This is a minor annoyance. I've had worse. Watch your own hide, red." Aleron threw her sword between the eyes of a demon attempting to sneak up on Kurama, and retrieved the weapon once the demon was dead.

"Damn, don't these guys ever give up?" she grumbled, slicing through another one as Loki continued to play guard for all of them, taking down demons left and right, just as quickly as the bipeds.

"Apparently not." Kurama's eyes narrowed. This would be much easier if he could expend the extra energy and make the plants grow around them and eat the rest of the demons. But he had the feeling he would need his energy for later.

Kuwabara, though, had no such compunctions to wait. He elongated his spirit sword with a yell and started slicing through the demons again, getting four or five at a time. Hiei took advantage of the momentary thinning to make his way towards the tower. The demons had finally stopped pouring out of the doors; everything was on the playing field now. So all they had to do was defeat these last demons, and then they'd be able to continue. But more than half an hour had already elapsed.

[i]{Me too! This roleplay is addicting XD I suppose I regret putting everything off until today though really really badly... Now I can't go to anime boston. TT^TT But at least I can post!}

Yue took the others' advice and backed out of the fray for a moment; it just occured to her now that the loss of blood could quite possibly be fatal. She didn't want to die just yet, she still owed Aleron a lot and it seemed horribly cliche to let blood be the death of her when she was a vampire.... Even if she didn't drink blood.
She extended her wing as much as she dared too before it hurt too much. It didn't seem broken; what had been hit was the membrane part of her wing, where a lot of the veins ran through- which led to a lot of bleeding when punctured. It wasn't as bad a wound as it looked, but she certainly wouldn't be flying for awhile.... Yue closed her eyes and concentrated her energy on that one spot; she wasn't much of a healer, but she was at least able to stop the bleeding by blocking off the bloodflow to that area. Then she jumped back into the fray, hating the idea of hindering the others more than she already was.
"I'm alright!" She exclaimed, bringing back her usual smile because she didn't know what else to do, "I've seen death yesterday, and I'll see more tomorrow, but I don't plan on seeing any today!" She would not let it come to 'death today'.

"Dammit!" Yusuke was starting to get really angry at all this resistance; they'd gotten close enough to the tower that the entrance to it was in sight, but it was still pretty far away. He began powering up a spirit gun blast; it might not have been smart to waste energy, but they didn't have the time to beat down every single enemy individually. The familiar pressure began to build and his pointer began to glow with a pure blue energy before the detective had the chance to change his mind- he aimed directly at the tower and fired. Demons were shredded into oblivion by the sheer power of the energy as it blew through their ranks and created an opening directly to their destination. A couple stragglers here and there had managed to survive, but there were no longer enough them to cause the group a problem. "Let's go!"

((Awww! I'm sorry you can't go to Anime Boston. But yes, we do have this! And it is addicting. Geeze, i'm a junkie now...))

Aleron blinked at Yusuke when he fired off his spirit gun. "Okay, I'm impressed," she admitted, following him through the field to the door. Hiei was already inside, and Kuwabara ran after in after them.

"So what's the plan now?" she asked quietly, keeping her weight off her right leg as much as possible, her injured leg. Loki stayed on her left side, letting her balance against him.

"The crystal," Kurama said quietly, looking up. "If we destroy that crystal, it should release all the energy they'd gathered. If we can do that, we can return to the portal site."

Unfortunately that was a big if. None of them had escaped completely unharmed, and these enemies were stronger than usual. They would have to exercise caution when fighting these ones. And even if they did win, he wasn't entirely sure how hard it would be to break the crystal. It would either be very easy, or very hard.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Aleron sheathed her sword again for the moment as she started up the stairs. "Let's go take out these bastards." She felt a little better now that she'd seen more of what the group could do. She didn't know how much Yue would be able to help, since she relied on energy, but Aleron could always supply her with energy if she had to.

{Haha, at least we can be junkies together!}

Yusuke didn't take off after Hiei and Kuwabara as he normally would have; instead the detective stayed with Aleron to make sure she'd make it up the stairs alright. Of course, such a noble intention was left obscure as he replied to Aleron's comment. "Of course you're impressed-" he said with a smirk, as if it was an obvious fact, "-it's me!" He laughed egotistically; but despite his bravado he was still a bit worried at the situation overall. They were already a bit beaten up and the harder enemies were still yet ahead..... And he'd never gotten to eat lunch! He was not about to die without a stomach full of unhealthy food!

They reached the top of the stairs, finding the same doorway they'd barged through with style before waiting for them. They looked as intimidating as ever; Yue looked considerably pale at least. "The power has increased a lot since we were last here...." She said slowly. Before the power had been so strong it had practically overwhelmed her senses. She'd wondered if they'd have been able to win the fight back then, now their own combined power was dwarfed. If they were going to win this battle it would not be through brute force, that was for certain at this point.

"Yeah, well their beating is just gonna have to be increased too!" Yusuke exclaimed, opening the doors. He did so less forcibly than he had the last time, though he was sorely tempted to kick down the door again- those guys deserved a big surprise.... Ah well, they had one coming either way.

Inside the five demons that surrounded the crystal did not greet their new company in a friendly manner; each of them stood ready to fight, and the energy that radiated off of them was already mind boggling, never mind the crystal that continued to supply them. It would not be long before they had the strength to completely obliterate the barrier between the demon world and human world, and if they did that the spirit world would soon collapse as well.... If these demons and their power crystal were not destroyed now, it'd be too late.

"We'll have to think this one through," Aleron said quietly, standing in the doorway and looking everything over, looking for any advantage. There were five of those demons, and six of them, seven if you counted Loki. They needed a brilliant plan, and they needed it an hour ago.

"Okay, here's what we should do." She grabbed the back of Kuwabara's jacket before he could go running into the fray without a thought. "You four go work on four of those demons. Distract them, get them as far away from the crystal as you can. I'll take on the fifth one. Yue, I want you and Loki to destroy that crystal. Without it, they'll be impaired, and we might have a chance at getting out of here alive."

Kurama nodded his agreement. That plan was about the best chance they had at the moment. "Signal one of us if you need help," he said to Yue and Aleron both. Hopefully this would work okay, and they'd all make it out alive.

He took a step away from the group while Kuwabara ran over, quickly engaging one of the demons. Hiei took another, leaving three. One of the remaining three smirked at him, and Kurama extended his rose whip again, starting to fight and luring the demon away from the crystal. The demon tried to get close, throwing punches and energy at him, and Kurama dodged everything he could, retaliating with his whip and his own body. Soon they were on the other side of the room, away from the crystal.

Aleron grinned at one of the demons, moving away from the others. Loki stayed by Yue's side, though he obviously wanted to go help Aleron. "Alright, ugly," she said to one of the demons. "Let's see if you're really so bad by yourself."

"You will regret this," the demon promised her before he sprang at her. Aleron moved away, dodging the attacks and sticking to martial arts for the time being. She just needed to buy herself enough time for Yue to destroy that crystal.

{I doubt I'll be able to get on on Easter until late o-o Actually, I didn't even think I'd be able to get on today, but I did! ^^;}

Yusuke ran head on towards one of the demons; then when it lunged for him he ducked under the scythe's swing and kept on running; the demon was forced to follow- thus being led away from the crystal. Even so, the energy from the demon's next swings were brutal- the detective knew that even one wrong move could be the end of him- luckily the guy had brute strength, but lacked speed. Since distracting him was the main priority, the detective would do fine... For now at least. He didn't fancy the idea of dodging forever.

While the others lured the demons away, Yue made her way over to the crystal with Loki; she knew that she wouldn't have been much help in the battle anyways as her main abilities were not offensive ones- thus being able to help at all was a chance she jumped at. "You don't have to worry about Aleron-" Yue told the dog as they dashed towards the crystal, "-She is very resourceful for a human. If things go wrong she will not go with them, she'll go in the opposite direction!" She wasn't exactly sure if the creature could understand her, but she also spoke to herself; the poor demon was extremely worried about the others.

Being near the crystal was extremely difficult, never mind right next to it; Yue had to concentrate very hard not to get ill, for it felt like the energy was pushing down on her harshly from all sides. Closer inspection of the crystal revealed that there were indeed many strange beings inside; they almost looked like humans, but they had pointier ears and were much taller.... "The people of this world..." They all looked like they were in extreme pain too- meaning they were still alive. That made things more complicated; if Yue was going to destroy this thing she couldn't destroy the people the demons had trapped inside of it.... And how to destroy it at all? Yue was an expert on energy, but she was so overwhelmed that it was difficult to really consider anything...
Then she decided to go with a different tact; instead of being open to all the energy around her, she forced herself to concentrate only on one tiny spot on the crystal. It was still powerful, but not overwhelmingly so; if she could create an energy of equal and opposite power and hit that one tiny spot it might create a crack.... Hopefully. "The power of this crystal is spirit energy with a demonic taint." She murmured slowly- that meant that demonic power with a spiritual taint was needed to counter it. Her gaze shifted towards Loki- she had no spiritual power of her own, but he certainly did. "Could I....borrow some of your energy?" She looked at the creature, hoping he understood what she was asking. "I need to mix it with my own for this to work..."

{Happy Easter if I don't get on tomorrow! I hope you have a good holiday!}

((Same to you! Have a wonderful Easter and get lots of candy! XD))

Aleron glanced over at Loki and Yue, keeping track of them while fighting her own battle. She managed not to get injured, not for the first several minutes. She kept attacking and dodging and feinting, keeping the demon busy.

But then a blow landed to her shoulder, infused with the demon's energy, and she heard her shoulder pop out of place. She gritted her teeth and stepped back a few steps while the demon laughed it up. A surprise kick to his groin made him stop and cower for several moments, and Aleron had a brief break to block herself off from the pain of her shoulder. Then she launched herself at the demon again, her left arm cradled against her side as she fought.

Kurama and the demon he'd challenged had actually moved into the hallway, intent on fighting. The demon had called in a whip made of some kind of flexible metal, and the two were exchanging and blocking blows, each trying to hurt or disable the others. They had a little under an hour left to finish up here and get back to the portal before they would be stuck there for the next fifty years, and Kurama hadn't escaped this much just to be stuck here. He dealt a savage blow to the demon, who drew on the crystal's power briefly to heal himself before going back to battling. At least they were a ways away from the crystal, too far for the demon to really react in time to save the crystal.

Loki looked up at her for a moment before he pressed his head into her palm, sending his spirit energy to her in small, controlled bursts. He understood everything she asked of him, and he liked her. She was good for his companion, Aleron. Besides, as a Temple dog, he had intelligence about level to that of a human's. Which meant he knew everything that was going on and he would do anything to ensure that his companion got out of this alive.

{Whew man, today has been a crazy day! XD I'm exhausted! o-o}

Yue was rather surprised with how quick Loki reacted to her quest; she smiled despite herself and her anxiety- he was very good for a dog- demon dogs were not nearly so smart or friendly. His bursts of energy were just right too; since she was so concentrated on that one spot of the crystal Yue wouldn't have been able to handle large bursts of energy very well- especially spiritual energy since it wasn't something she as a demon was naturally compatible with. This plan suddenly seemed like it would work; she at least felt a bit more confident as she gathered her own energy.
Of course, the hard part would be gearing up for an energy blast; Yue had seen Aleron and Yusuke do it enough times that she had a basic idea of how it worked, but she'd never done so herself, and this situation wasn't exactly one that would allow for failure. The pressure was intense. "But pressure isn't all bad-" she told herself firmly, "-it makes diamonds after all..." She took a deep breath, calming herself down as she built up as much energy as she could in her hand; it was a bit difficult to keep from exploding, but once she'd gotten it under control Yue began slowly feeding Loki's energy into it. It was a delicate process and she had to work slowly so as not to make mistakes, for she not only had to combine the energy, but build it up to the same caliber as that spot on the crystal.
It was at least ten minutes before she was confident that the orb of energy was ready, and after another moment of debate over whether to throw the thing like she'd seen the others do, Yue instead smashed the energy into the crystal as hard as she could. The crack that appeared did so with a loud bang, and energy that rushed out of it as the crystal lost it's power flung the demon halfway across the room. She didn't see where Loki had gone, and that worried her, but she did see the creatures inside the crystal beginning to move about.... If they were the ones generating so much power they'd be able to escape on their own.

"I now understand why it is that the humans threw the energy instead of held it." Yue thought as she struggled to her feet. But at least it had gotten the job done. She looked around for the others- mainly Loki- to see where they were and how they were doing.

Yusuke continued to dodge blows, landing punches here and there when he could, but never doing much damage; each time he even managed to land a blow the demon recovered with the power of the crystal, and his counterattacks became more and more brutal.... Then one hit, and the detective was thrown brutally into a wall. At first it didn't seem like he'd get back up, but after a moment he slowly crawled to his feet, and although he stood awkwardly- like it was an incredible strain just to do so- he laughed. "Looks like that crystal of yours has been destroyed." He snickered, "You're not nearly as tough as you were before." That blow would have otherwise killed him, but with the crystal's fading power, the demons' extra strength was going with it. He was still undoubtedly strong, but he was no longer unbeatable.
"I think this party's over." Yusuke held his wrist as he began piling the last of his energy into a final spirit gun blast; his finger began to glow, and he kept pushing energy into it until he felt lightheaded. "And just so you know, I'm the type of guy who likes to end a party with a 'bang'" Then he aimed and fired.

((No kidding... I'm so tired already... @.@))

Loki had been flung backwards as well, but he got to his feet quickly and barrelled over to help Aleron. He tackled the demon she'd taken on, giving her time to get back to her feet from where the demon had been about to kick her while she was down, and he snarled at the demon, biting into it a few times before moving back swiftly.

The demon rose, albeit unsteadily, only to find Aleron smirking, leaning back against the wall with one last energy ball in her hand. She threw it, and it went straight through the demon's head. He collapsed to the floor, and Aleron let out a weak sigh.

Kurama finished off his demon without a word, looking down at the pieces of the body briefly before he hurried up the steps in time to see Hiei slice his demon into half a dozen pieces, and Kuwabara even managed to defeat the last demon without help.

He jogged over to Yue, smiling a little. "Well done," he said quietly. "It looks like everything is back to normal. Or will be soon." He could see the figures moving around inside the crystal, already pushing at the crack and starting to figure out a way to get out. Just in case they weren't friendly, Kurama motioned for Yue to go first.

"We need to head back outside, so we can get to the portal." Kurama spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, and Kuwabara blinked.

"Oh yeah. How long do we have, anyway?" Kuwabara asked, looking over at Kurama.

"Five minutes until it forms, then another five minutes before it closes. I suggest we move quickly." Kurama grimaced just a litle. He hadn't expected it would take quite so long to do everything. He offered Yue a hand as Hiei and Kuwabara headed for the exit. "Do you need help?"

Aleron coughed a few times, wiping blood from her lips. Well. Five minutes, huh? They sure had cut it close. She managed a weak snort, leaning on Loki as she made her way to the doorway. She glanced back at Yusuke.

"Hey, Yusuke! No dying and no getting stuck here! I can't collect if you're dead." She managed to grin at him and started down the stairs. That should get him moving. He seemed the type to rise to a challenge.

{Woah man.... I dunno if it was because I was overtired or what, but I've been feeling as sick as a.... well, something sickly XD It really sucked at work!

Anyways, here's a post! Neither rain nor sleet nor sickness shall keep me from posting XD!}

"I ain't gonna die!" Yusuke managed to snap back in reply to Aleron's taunt. Of course, he had a nasty cut on his forehead and his legs felt like jelly, but he wasn't about to back down from a challenge regardless- especially from a girl! "I ain't gonna take crap from a girl who treats her dog better than my mom treats me!"......Not that it took much to treat something better than his mom treated him all things considered.... but the point was that he wasn't taking crap right now!
The detective began jogging- or more accurately stumbling- after the others. It took some effort on his part, but he caught up after a short while and managed to flash a cocky smirk in Aleron's direction. "See? I'm fine!" He said with a laugh, "I'm more worried about your girly hide dying on me before I die on you!" Despite his words however, he was glad to see she was alright. Pain in his ass as she was, Yusuke didn't like the idea of Aleron dying. "Still-" He admitted, "You handled yourself pretty well.... for a girl I mean!"

Yue looked at Kurama when he offered his hand. That energy blast against the crystal had drained her more than she thought it would; perhaps it had been because she was using spiritual energy which she wasn't accustomed to, or the fact that she'd never used a physical energy blast like the sort Aleron and Yusuke used before. Either way she'd overdone it and was exhausted. Half of her considered being stubborn and forcing herself to move on her own, but considering how silly Yusuke and Kuwabara looked doing so she decided it was best to accept help.
So she took his hand gratefully. "I would like to think that I don't need the mental sort of help that humans describe-" She said as she did so, "-But this seems much more acceptable."

They all made their way down the stairs to the tower. It would be close; none of them- other than Hiei and Kurama who'd played it smart- were in any condition to be running. Although it wasn't far to the portal now, with all of them more or less stumbling, it was quite a distance indeed.

((Yay! I love posts! ^_^ And I hope you feel better soon... It's no fun being sick

Oh yeah, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to briefly bring in another character once they get back. Just for the sake of fun))

Aleron let out a slightly wheezy cough at that. "Well, if you were my pet too I'd treat you the same as I treat Loki." She really couldn't help taunting him. It was way too fun and he made it so easy. Besides, it helped her focus on something other than the pain and exhaustion. She wasn't used to fighting like that.

She looked over in time to see the portal opening, a little ways ahead of them. Five minutes. They had five minutes to make it there before the portal closed. They could do that. No problem. Easy shmeezy.

The tower behind them started to shake as power escaped from the remains of the crystal, the inhabitants of this planet escaping with it. The portal actually wavered a little before solidifying again.

"Shit. That's not good," Aleron muttered. "Now would be the time to start running." She grabbed Yusuke's wrist and started jogging, still leaning on Loki from time to time for support. Kuwabara managed to jog-stumble after them.

Kurama laughed quietly and helped her out of the tower, staying in the back of the group for now. It gave her a little more time to recover, and he could make sure no one straggled behind.

When everything started shaking, Kurama's eyes narrowed. They needed to hurry, and four of them really weren't in any condition to run. Aleron and Yusuke seemed to be managing just fine, and Kuwabara wasn't too far behind. He picked up Yue carefully, since it would be much easier for him to run than to worry about her keeping up, and started running for the portal. It gave another heart-stopping waver before Hiei went through. One down, six to go.

{Haha, I don't mind at all. ^^ It'll probably be interesting!

And I think it's just because I'm tired, I'm feeling a bit better now that I've gotten some chamomile into my system... Because I'm one of those backwards people who gets knocked out with caffeine and really awake with stuff that normally knocks you out XD}

Yusuke stumbled forward when Aleron began tugging him along. Actually, she nearly tugged his arm right out of his socket- even exhausted she was still pretty strong.... He'd have to remember to stay on her good side....
"Dammit!" He was not happy with the situation at all, but at least he still had the energy to complain. "I've already died once!" He grumbled, "If I'd known this was gonna happen I'd stayed dead instead of accepting that crazy toddler's job!" The portal flickered threateningly again, leading him to add, "This was NOT in my job description!"
He began stumbling forward faster, both out of anger and determination not to let Aleron lead the way; he didn't want to lose to a girl, but he also didn't want to hold her back. If he was going through the portal- and she sure as hell was- so was she.

With Loki in tow they tumbled through the portal together, landing back at Genkai's place in a pile.

Although she genrally paid attention to what was going on, Yue's mind was on so many different things that she really wasn't very much paying attention to where she was going. She was worried about the others and if they'd make it in time, and was quite frankly working with her mind in overload. Thus she was genuinely startled out of her wits when Kurama suddenly picked her up and took off, and failed horribly to hide the squeak that resulted.
He did not run as fast as Hiei, but he was still very fast; Yue wondered if he was a very old animal demon, or simply a fox with many tails. Either way, between the startlement and the panic she was at a loss for words as they went tumbling through the portal as well.

They landed in a messy pile next to Yusuke and the others.

{Sorry for my baby posts ^^; I think my brain is fried XD}

((It's okay, if I hadn't been planning this post for bringing this character in I'm sure this post would be kinda short too))

Aleron groaned quietly as she pushed herself up from where she'd landed on the ground. Loki nosed her worriedly, checking her over for any new injuries and helping her to her feet. He looked over at the temple and let out a whoof when someone new approached them.

With his tanned skin accompanied by silvering hair and deep brown eyes, the man stopped a few feet away, wearing pants and a loose long-sleeved shirt. He looked down at them and tsked.

"Really, Aleron, I thought you were better than this by now."

The words immediately brought Aleron to her feet, though she'd gone white. "T-Takeshi! I didn't expect to see you here."

"Obviously not, or you wouldn't have gone off on some suicide mission." Takeshi looked her over critically. "Unfortunately for you, I came to visit my old student, Genkai. I taught her when she was young, much as I did with you. Though not for as long, more's the pity."

Aleron visibly winced. "Um. Oops?" She looked rather hopeful that she'd get off at that. Takeshi was not someone she wanted to mess with right now. She was tired and half-covered in blood and hurting like hell. She wanted to go home and take a bath, not deal with the man she'd trained with from age seven to thirteen.

Takeshi tsked again. "Did you at least get something out of this?" He looked at her critically. "Since you've either forgotten some of your training or you actually had to work hard for this."

"Hey, there was a whole fricken' army," Aleron grumbled. "And five demons hyped up on extra energy. It's not my fault. And I did get a favor out of it."

"From whom?"

"Yusuke." Aleron pointed to him. Hey, if it got Takeshi off her case, she'd do just about anything. Takeshi could be a real slavedriver when he wanted to, and the gleam in his eyes told her he thought they needed more training. Which she did not. After this she deserved a vacation.

Takeshi turned his gaze to Yusuke, looking him over carefully. Ah, this was Genkai's apprentice, and the spirit detective. He'd heard of the boy, but had never met him before now. Interesting company, though; three demons, and another human besides the detective. Sometimes he had to wonder what that girl was up to.

"Alright, you got lucky. This time. But I expect to hear from you soon." Takeshi's gaze softened just a little. "Have you heard from Ach recently?"

"Not in about a year," Aleron replied with a little shrug, and then a wince. "Last I heard he was in Greece. 'Bout the same time Father and I were."

Takeshi nodded his understanding before turning. "Well, call me once you're cleaned up and we will talk more." With that, he vanished into Genkai's temple. Aleron visibly relaxed, and nearly fell flat on her butt.

Kurama watched the whole exchange with some fascination after he got up, helping Yue up as well. He wasn't sure what Takeshi was; no human was that old and that powerful, but he wasn't a demon either. At least he didn't attack Aleron. Then Kurama might have had to step in. And even he didn't have limitless power.

"Well, that was interesting," he said softly to Yue. "Have you ever met him before?" He had the vague feeling he'd seen Takeshi somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where. It was bugging him now.

{Alright, my last shot before bed! <3 And oooh! Genkai's master! Plot twist! XD}

Yusuke gaped openly when he heard that this Takeshi guy was Genkai's master. That likely made him twice as much a pain in the ass and undoubtedly made him someone he didn't want to mess with. He sent an accusing glare in Aleron's direction when she mentioned the favor he owed her; if looks could kill it would have been death three times over. He did not want someone even worse than Genkai getting dirt on him- he'd already died once.
"I feel like I just got hit by a car..... Again." Yusuke groaned as he climbed to his feet. Now that the adrenaline was no longer pumping through him the soreness was starting to hit, and on top of his wounds and fatigue it did not make a good combo. Also not helping this was when Botan shamelessly tackled him in a worried hug.
"Yusuke, I told you not to do anything reckless!" She exclaimed, helping him inside the temple, "I really will be grim if you don't start listening at some point!"
Inside Genkai had a variety of medical supplies set up, along with Yukina to help take care of the returning heroes; obviously she'd predicted the shape they'd return in, because she didn't seem in the least surprised to see any of their wounds- which was a great contrast to Botan's anxious panic.

"I thought I told you guys not to put the dimwit in charge." She stated accusingly, quirking an eyebrow. Then she looked at Takeshi, "Believe it or not these kids aren't as useless as they seem, but your training can only work so well without talent!" She laughed a bit, but even Genkai knew that Yusuke had more raw power than the average joe. He was talented- moreso than she bothered to give him credit for.... But why let him get even more cocky than he was? "You're more than welcome to some tea." She added, "Even a snarky student like myself has something to spare for their master."

With that said, she grabbed something from the pile of medical equipment and set off tending to some wounds herself. It wouldn't have been fair to set Yukina and Botan with all the work.

Yue continued staring openly at Takeshi as she and Kurama went inside the temple after the others. "I.... don't know...." She finally replied slowly to his question, scrunching up her face as she struggled to remember and came up with nothing. "But his energy is.... Unlike anything I've ever felt before." It wasn't dark or tainted like the energy from the other world, but somehow still different.... Like this man was something entirely new altogether.
Perhaps she would have said something more on the topic, but the sight of Genkai approaching her with a needle distracted Yue thoroughly from the topic at hand; all the color immediately drained from her face and she hid behind the fox demon rather quickly despite her exhaustion.

"Look kid, the only way that wing of yours is gonna heal right is if we sew it together." Genkai explained, crossing her arms, "So if you ever want to fly again you'll sit still, got it?"

"I do not see how stabbing me with a needle will help anything at all-" Yue retorted, never taking her eyes off the object in question as she drew her wings closer around herself. -I have seen your human healers, and if what they do is so professional, why do they describe it as 'practice'?" Of her time spent on human world, Yue had developed and extreme fear of doctors. Everything from the way they dressed to the way they acted unnerved her- they seemed much more evil than the common perception of demons to her.

The hag's only reaction to this was to heave an exasperated sigh- she had no intention of taking 'no' for an answer. "I'm not a doctor." She stated bluntly, "And you are getting that wing sewed up- it's simply a matter of doing it the easy way or the hard way."

Yue made a face to this. Obviously she was considering the 'hard way' option and trying to escape, but she knew that with how tired she was she wouldn't get far.... And the thought of never flying again was also a driving factor. She eventually gave in and allowed herself to be sat down and treated, though her face never did regain color throughout the entire process.

{Yay! A long post! Haha, I had to make Yue afraid of doctors... I am irl and I just couldn't stand the thought of needles without bringing something up about it XD

Now I'm off to bed!Ciao for now!}

((I love plot twists! I really couldn't resist bringing Takeshi in. And I love that Yue's already afraid of doctors. Not even a week in the human realm and already she's found some of the scariest people XD))

Takeshi chuckled quietly. "Thank you, Genkai," he said. "It seems your apprentice and mine are getting along quite well." He found that very amusing. Normally his students didn't interact, and the fact that not only had two of his students met, but his youngest student and the student of his student had met... Well, it just tickled him.

"He wasn't in charge, I was," Aleron grumbled. "Someone had to come up with some way for Yue to get to the damn crystal and break it." She sat down rather abruptly, a little ways away from the others.

"Easy, kiddo," Takeshi said quietly, approaching her. He stopped when Loki growled, planting himself in front of his chosen companion. "You're bleeding."

"No shit, Sherlock. I never would have guessed." Aleron growled quietly. "And they ruined my shirt. I didn't exact nearly enough revenge for that." She crossed her arms over her chest, and just then noticed a thin slice that ran up the underside of her left arm, from wrist to the inside of her elbow. "Oh. That's why I fell over."

"Yes," Takeshi agreed with some amusement. "Call your dog off so I can take a look at it, kiddo. Or you'll keep bleeding." He was rather worried, but he'd never show it. Aleron's strength had never been in group battles, or against opponents stronger than her. She was a strategist, did best in one-on-one battles of fists and wits, and she was more fragile than she seemed. All her bluster and blather and snark was just her armor.

"Loki." Aleron gave the dog a shove, which didn't move him at all. "You know Takeshi, you loon. Now sod off for a wink, and I'll be fine afore he finishes his tea." She flopped back against the grass. Grass was soft and cool and damn, when did it get so hard to keep her eyes open?

Loki moved obediently, and Takeshi knelt next to her, starting to wrap her arm first. "Apparently you didn't do too shabbily," he said quietly, conversationally. "Although you do need more training."

"Don't we all? That's what you told me. You're never done learning and training until they pile you in your grave." Aleron held still, staring up at the stars above them contemplatively. She was getting philosophical; that was always a bad sign. "Although I suppose you could stop learning if you put your mind to it. Just closed it off. Seems kinda stupid, though. Not to learn anymore. How would you expect to barter if you stop learning?"

"Aleron. That's enough." Something new entered Takeshi's voice; something almost like fear. "Shut up and look at me. You're fine, and I'm going to beat the ever-loving piss out of you once you can walk properly again. Then you can get philosphical on me. But not before."

Kurama wasn't badly injured, so he stayed close to Yue while Genkai stitched her up. He decided he was going to help distract her. "Well, that worked better than I thought," he said lightly. "I'm rather surprised we got off as easy as we did."

"You call this easy?" Kuwabara grumped, though he was with Yukina. He almost immediately turned his attention back to her.

"Compared to after the Dark Tournament, this isn't bad." Kurama smiled just a little. "Although, I must admit, for a while I was worried." Worried that they wouldn't make it in time, worried that they wouldn't defeat the demons, worried that the girls weren't used to this lifestyle. That would be just their luck; find two new allies only to lose them. He was glad that everyone had made it out, and it looked like everyone would make a full recovery. Even though Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Aleron had all used more energy and taken more risks than necessary.

Even with all of that, he found himself glad, almost light-headed with relief. They were all back at Genkai's temple, and they were all safe again. For the time being, at least.

((We're gonna have to come up with a new challenge for them soon))

{Yeah. ^^; I answered your PM about it! So hopefully we can get some good stuff rollin' soon! I couldn't quote you tho. o-o It would have been too much text!}

Yue was still petrified throughout the entire process, but it didn't hurt as much as she expected it to, and Genkai worked quickly; it was only a matter of minutes before the woman was done and the thread was in place. After a moment or so of calming down, Yue expanded her wing and looked at it, only to get a thump on the head from the hag. "You're not going to try flying anywhere until it's healed." She stated, leaving no room for argument like she normally did with Yusuke, "Got that, Fishy?"

Yue's finlike ears drooped, but she nodded. Then she finally responded to Kurama's previous statements, having been too preoccupied to do so earlier. "I was worried too." She openly admitted, "But at the very least it was a situation where worry is logical-" She managed a weak smile and some of the color came back into her face, "-if we were to worry about every situation as if it were life and death I believe we'd probably die.... many times."Then she looked at him and tilted her head, "You all must have been together for quite awhile to enter in a contest like the Dark Tournament-" She'd heard a lot of bad things about it, from corruption to brutal death- it really seemed like only the brutish sort of demons entered. "-Most people would try to stop their friends from doing crazy things, only really close friends do crazy things together."

"Friendship is a crutch for the weak." Hiei retorted, leaning against a nearby wall. "I don't like babysitting all the time, and quite frankly, if they die they'd be doing me a favor-" He flashed an evil smirk, "- I'm an enemy, and I'm the type of enemy who wouldn't stop the idiot detective from doing something stupid."

"Hmmmm...." Yue looked thoughtful, then she smiled, "If you are the enemy, then the detective you don't like is doing a fine job of thwarting you." She replied, "There really is no better way to get rid of an enemy than making friends with him!"

"Feh, You are as foolish as the others." Hiei stated, obviously not amused by her words. He turned and walked out the door, disappearing into the night.

"Sit still Yusuke!" Botan exclaimed, glaring at him, "We're never going to bandage you up properly if you don't sit still! Even Yue did better than you and she's terrified of doctors!"

"Well doctors aren't supposed to be the cause of the pain!" Yusuke nearly shouted in response, continuing to struggle, "What the hell do you think you're doing- because if you're trying to suffocate me you're doing a fine job!"

"We're bandaging up your broken ribs!" Botan explained yet again, "And it'd be much less painful if you just sat still!" Why it was that Koenma hired such an uncooperative boy she'd never know.

"Well, he can't be badly hurt at least-" Yukina giggled, looking on the bright side, "-since he has so much energy to squirm!" She continued bandaging up Kuwabara, who was also being much more cooperative than Yusuke was.... He seemed abnormally stiff though..... She wondered why.

{Once we get a plot set we can just time skip forward. ^^;}

((Sounds good to me! ^_^ In the meantime we can have fun with this))

Kurama laughed quietly. He knew Hiei was fond of the detective; they all were. Yusuke was the first person he'd seen that Hiei had been willing to die for other than himself. The boy certainly grew on you, even if you didn't want him to.

"Well, that's another apocalypse diverted," Kurama said lightly. "Hopefully we'll get a little more warning before the next one." He smiled faintly at Yue. She had proven herself very useful, even if not the greatest fighter in the world. He certainly wouldn't mind if she stuck around for a while. He had always enjoyed learning new things, and he had the feeling they could both learn from each other.

He looked over when he saw Takeshi and Genkai speaking quietly about something, Takeshi carrying an unconscious Aleron and Loki following with his nose practically pressed against her side.

Takeshi nodded to Genkai and took a few steps away, over to Yusuke, where he stopped. "Kid," he said, to get Yusuke's attention. "I'm leaving her here. Anything else happens to her, it comes out of your hide. And I will check."

That said, Takeshi walked off into the temple, walking silently and quickly vanishing into the depths of Genkai's temple.

Kurama shook his head a little, for a brief moment wondering why Takeshi chose Yusuke of all people. But Aleron had pointed him out, and Yusuke certainly wasn't a bad choice.

"Is she alright, Genkai?" he asked quietly. He knew Yue would be worried about the girl, and he wanted to make sure she wouldn't die. It would be a shame to lose an ally.

"She'll be fine," Genkai said dismissively. "Idiot just used too much of her power." Shaking her head and muttering about dimwits, Genkai also vanished into her temple.

{I say the Aleron plot twist should come first, because with the arrival of Takeshi in the RP, it's created a great opening to build up on her character with a plot based around her- what do you think?}

"My hide?!" Yusuke looked from Aleron to Takeshi and back again in disbelief. Truth be told he didn't really have a problem with protecting Aleron, as much as the detective hated to admit it, he owed her a bit of backup after all the times she'd saved his ass.... And for some reason, that thought didn't actually bother him.... Still, he was the sort to not show his true feelings unless pressed pretty hard, so his reaction was to complain and argue rather than willingly accept the task. "Why's it gotta come off my hide?!" He grumbled loudly, "What the heck's that supposed to mean?!"

"If taken literally, it means he will rip your skin off if Aleron gets hurt." Yue replied reflexively. Her attention was fixed on Aleron though, and she was obviously more focused on her friend who was unconscious than the whiny one who was. Only when Genkai assured them that the girl would be alright did Yue breath a sigh of relief, but she still looked on anxiously at her friend's sleeping form.

To take her mind off things, she decided to address Kurama again. "I've never been much of a fighter." She said to him, "So I really must thank you for having the patience to have me around and help me out so much.... Now if only someone could help me understand the backwardness of humans I'd be delightful." She couldn't help but smile at the very thought of that- she very much doubted that she'd ever understand humans.

Yusuke sat down next to Aleron as well, staring at her for a moment before making a face and turning away. "I wouldn't put it past him." He grumbled after a moment in reply to Yue's previous statement, "If he's half as evil as Genkai he's frickin' diabolical."

((lmao, I just PMed you and thought we should go the other way around, but I think you're right. We should do it now while Takeshi's around, before he vanishes into the mountains again. Plus it's a great way to let them get to know her more))

Loki looked at Yusuke and let out a low whine. Aleron shouldn't have passed out. She couldn't. She was reckless and stupid sometimes but she never got hurt this badly. With a sad sigh, the dog rested his head on her legs gingerly, waiting for her to wake up.

Kurama shook his head. "It's fine. We can't all be fighters, or the world wouldn't be nearly the place it is now." He smiled a little at her. "And as for teaching you how humans work... Well, I can't really teach you that. I can certainly help, but really the best thing is to just spend a lot of time around them and get to know how they work. You'll learn, don't worry." He smiled at her reassuringly.

Genkai laughed. "You think I'm bad, Yusuke? I learned from Takeshi. Including most of the techniques I used in training your lazy ass." She snorted and walked past, pausing to look at Aleron before she shook her head and followed Takeshi the rest of the way inside. The girl would be fine. And Yusuke certainly seemed to like her, which was unusual, to say the least.

"Hey Urameshi! You're not cheating on Keiko or anything are you?!" Kuwabara demanded. Yukina had gone inside to get some more bandages, and he took the opportunity to glare reprovingly at Yusuke.

((sorry, that's a baby post... DX))

{It's up to you when you want to to the time skip, but we can do it anytime... I'm not sure whether you wanna just fastforward to Aleron being at her house or something and it seeming like a normal day until she go the letter or what ^^; Getting started is always the hardest part.....

Also, and this is up to you I just like the idea- could we have it so that Yue is staying with Aleron? I know in the series demons normally stay at Genkai's place, but I think Yue would like it better with Aleron since they've known each other longer.}

Yue scratched behind Loki's ears reassuringly; she could tell that the dog was just as worried as she was and wanted to comfort him. She liked the animals of the human world, they were very loyal and caring creatures, and although her and Loki's first meeting had been a rocky one, she considered him a good friend at this point.
At Kurama's words however she smiled despite herself; most demons were cold and bluntly rude- it was so odd that this one would be so kind. In many ways Kurama confused her as much as the humans did. "You're very kind.... But that makes you as backwards as they are!" She said after a moment, "Though I suppose if everyone were to follow the stereotype the world would be a very boring place indeed."

Yusuke visually grimaced at Genkai's words. So Takeshi was really worse than her huh? Well, that was a royal kick in the groin to say the least- it was bad enough having the old hag breathing over his shoulder constantly without the bigger and badder old coot joining in.
At Kuwabara's words however Yusuke's head shot back up, "Who the hell would I be cheating with?" He demanded, obviously not realizing what was clear to everyone else. "And.... Who the hell ever said that Keiko and I were together?! Has she been telling you things? Because I swear with how much she bitch slaps me every time she sees me she hates me!"

{XD That is a brilliant question though... Whatever did happen to Keiko in this RP?}

((Yeah, I like that. So Yue is staying with Aleron, since Aleron's got the room and they get along well. I'll go ahead and skip after this post, probably.

As for Keiko... Hmm... Maybe we could have it be that she gets fed up with Yusuke always going off and risking his life and she goes to find a nice normal boy? Or something like that?))

Kuwabara blinked a few times. "No, but you two always act like you're together," he grumbled. "Geeze, Urameshi." He shook his head, and then his eyes lit up and he went to go find Yukina. Because he has a one-track mind.

Kurama laughed quietly again and shook his head. He was becoming more human, but only because he was one. Sort of. Yoko Kurama was still a demon, but even he had mellowed out some from his time here in the human world. Even if he did still like to steal things. Between all his various hideouts and things, Yoko had accumulated enough wealth to fund several third-world countries for a few centuries.

"Yes, the world needs some variation," he agreed lightly. "Just think how dull a place it would be if we were all the same." And not nearly so fun, either. One of his favorite things about the human world were the humans themselves. They had proved to be immensely fun, and not at all like the demons he'd gotten used to.

Loki sighed again and licked Yue's hand once before going back to watching Aleron. Occasionally he'd look at Yusuke as well, like Yusuke could make everything better somehow.

{Alright, we skip after this post then. That works for me- thanks for the warning or I'd have been very confused.....

And yeah, we could have Keiko have gone to school to become a teacher- because they said in the show that she had a crapload of guys who liked her- so she started going out with one of them. It works.]

Yue looked at Loki, he looked like a deflated balloon almost; like any sort of vigor he normally would have had was just gone. "She'll be okay." She found herself telling him, "I can feel her energy coming back. She'll be as strong as you in a couple of hours!.... Well... Maybe not as strong as you." She added as an afterthought, as if he'd somehow take that concept personally, (dog demons were just so dramatic after all, who knew how human dogs were?), But back to her normal strength at least!" She managed a bright fanged smile, realizing that for all her talk about humans being crazy she was the one talking to animals, but not really minding the concept all too much.

Yusuke began to pet Loki's backside too absentmindedly; with the way the dog was looking at him it was hard to just sit there and ignore the guy, but eventually his gaze drifted away from the creature and towards the cieling.

"...Cheating on Keiko huh?" He smiled bitterly at the irony of the thought.

He really had liked her.... Hell, whenever she got mad at him his method of begging for forgiveness was always to propose.... But she'd wanted him to live a normal life.... And he.... Just wasn't able to do that. It had never been in his nature to be normal, even back when all he did was skip class and cause trouble, only now his abnormality was something that was dangerous.
In all honesty he couldn't blame her for finally giving up and going with that guy from school who'd liked her for years, but he remembered getting pretty beat up about it when she'd first told him.... Now that he thought about it, it was probably also the reason why he pushed any girl he met away these days....

"Kuwabara's an idiot." He finally muttered. He really didn't have anything else he wanted to say... or admit.

((No problemo! And I do like that plan. So Keiko is off to school dating someone else and poor Yusuke is kinda heartbroken.))

A week and a half later, everything was back to normal. Aleron and Yue had gone back to her home, with Loki, though Aleron still called or texted Yusuke at least once a day. Usually to annoy him, but still, that was more attention than she'd given one person in a long time. Besides Yue, of course.

She'd even seen Kurama and Hiei once, though she hadn't stopped and talked for long. Mostly just a "hi, how are you? Recovered from saving the world yet? Great, catch ya later!" before she'd gone on her way.

Shaking her head to clear her jumbled thoughts, Aleron focused on the bank statement, busy balancing her checkbook. She still had lots and lots and lots of money, more than she really knew what to do with, but she needed to keep busy. Her father was supposed to have returned three days ago, and she hadn't heard from him yet. She was starting to get really worried. She knew he could take care of himself, she knew he was probably fine, but she couldn't help it.

Sighing and temporarily giving up on the work, Aleron went to go retrieve the mail. Since she was just at home, she only wore sweats and a tank top, though she did pull on a pair of slippers to go get the mail.

There, in the middle of the pile, was an envelope made out of a heavy paper not often used, like parchment. Aleron paused when she saw it had no return address, and she dropped everything else on the kitchen table as she sliced the envelope open, pulled out the letter, and started to read.

Everything swayed around her as all blood drained from her face. For a moment after she finished the letter she couldn't do anything; she couldn't think, she couldn't move, she could barely even breathe. Her heart thudded unevenly in her chest, and then she crushed the letter between her fingers.

"Hey, Yue? I'm gonna be gone for a couple days. My father got into some trouble in Greece, so I have to go bail him out of jail. No biggie. Just letting you know you'll be here alone for a couple days." Aleron kept her voice even and normal, even as she started thinking quickly. She couldn't get him back on her own, she knew it, and she knew she couldn't beat them. But maybe...

Before the thought even finished forming, she dashed up the stairs to her room and grabbed her cell phone off her bedside table as she started getting out her work clothes; butter-soft dark jeans, a plain black t-shirt, her normal boots, and a silky soft black leather jacket. "Dammit, Yusuke, pick up," she growled, already starting to change her clothes.

{Yay! Here we go! I'm so hyper today. ^^; Like a silly nerdy otaku.... But so much cooler. XD}

Genkai had offered to let Yue stay with her, but although the demon really did enjoy the serenity of the temple, it reminded her too much of home.... And since 'home' was no longer a place she could return to, being there for too long would only have made her sad. So Yue had decided to continue living with Aleron- she felt a bit more comfortable with the girl she'd felt like she'd known for years than she did anywhere else.
Of course, it was still frustrating at times. She didn't have a human form, so she couldn't go outside unless it was at night- because there was always the chance that someone would be spiritually aware and see her, and with her lacking knowledge of humans, if put in such a situation Yue would have been in a lot of trouble.... So she generally stayed inside, working hard on learning to use her energy to conceal her appearance and take on a human looking form, but she had a lot of trouble figuring out how to do it just right since she was very easily distracted. In fact, if Loki weren't around, the poor demon probably would have killed herself with the oven or the blender when Aleron was out.

As such she was a bit apprehensive at the thought of being left alone for a couple days, but she didn't want to be anymore of a strain on Aleron than she already was, so she did her best not to panic when her friend brought it up. "Okay! I will... Be careful." Was all she said- with an apprehensive look at the kitchen electronics. Normally would have told Aleron to be careful, but the girl was used to traveling to far away places apparently, and like it or not, Yue was the one who got into trouble like a little kid on a daily basis.
Still, she couldn't help but lean forward and ask, "Are... You catching a fever? You're acting stranger than humans normally do you know." But her friend had already ran off to her room to pack before giving a definitive answer.

-----------------

Yusuke heaved an exasperated sigh when he heard his phone buzzing yet again; at first he'd thought it was yet another taunting text from Aleron, but when it continued buzzing he realized it was an actual call. "Yeah Yeah..." He grumbled, grabbing the device and looking at the caller ID... That was weird.... Why was she calling? He flipped open the phone, "I swear to god this had better be good- I was just about to beat another arcade game!"

{Sorry it took so long!}

((It's cool, I had to go take my midterm ^^))

Aleron knew Yue was worried about being left alone. But she'd make Loki stay home. The dog was fond of Yue, very much so. If Loki couldn't keep Yue out of trouble, no one could.

"I'm fine!" Aleron yelled back down the stairs to Yue, before Yusuke picked up. "Just a little worried, you know? He is my dad, after all." That should explain away everything.

Yue wouldn't have to worry. She could stay there, in the house, and practice her appearance. Or she could even go on walks with Loki; the demon and the dog got along very well, and they both seemed to enjoy their nighttime strolls. Or, hell, Yue could go visit Genkai anytime she wanted to. Yue would be fine. She'd leave a letter for her father explaining everything. He'd take care of Yue for her. She knew he would.

"Well sorry," Aleron snapped when Yusuke answered. "Look, I'm calling in my favor. I need you to take care of Loki for me for a week or so. Nothing serious. Just feed him twice a day, check in on him and make sure Yue hasn't burned the house down or hurt herself. Okay?"

She pulled her boots on as she grabbed a duffel bag, not that she'd need it. But her father would. She grabbed some of his clothes, stuffing them in there, along with a few other things he'd need.

"Which arcade are you at? I'll swing by and drop off an extra key for you." Aleron's voice cracked once, the only sign of her strain. She swallowed hard; she really needed to keep better control than that. Hopefully Yusuke wouldn't notice, what with all the background noise in the arcade and him being male and all.