"There's a door behind you. Please, take it."
The voice, was deep, gravelly, and surprisingly polite, which only added to the little kitsune's unease. Sure enough, as the gang turned around, they found a door they hadnt noticed before, and stepped up to it.
Yusuke glanced around their little group one final time, ensuring everyone was prepared for whatever awaited on the other side. With a nod to Kuwabara, who stepped up next to him at the cue, they pushed open the door to confront the first of the Saint Beasts.
"Ladies first!" He said as the doors swung open.
They opened into a large stone room, dimly lit by flickering torches along each wall. Yusuke grabbed one of these torches, and threw it deeper into the room, only to illuminate a massive stone beast, staring back at them all. The creature gave another deep, gravelly laugh, and spoke.
"Hahaha! Welcome, trespassers!"
Yumiko took a small step back at the sight of the beast, but remained silent. Kuwabara nearly fell over, an arm raised in front of him in shock.
"Okay, I'm surprised!!"
The beast was a hulking creature who looked to be made of solid stone. He rested his hands and forearms on the ground, giving him a hunched over figure as he spoke again.
"I am Genbu, of the Four Saint Beasts. Do you have any requests before you die?"
"Yeah, tell me how a beast is a saint, I'm lost!" Yusuke responded, cocky and confident as ever, and Yumiko rolled her eyes. She reckoned a dragon could be in the room and it wouldn't shake the boy. Maru winced beside her, and she was sure he assumed the same.
"This stairwell is the only way to the castle tower." Genbu continued. "You can either defeat me, and go up on your own, or be dragged there once you STOP BREATHING!!!"
As he finished speaking, a long stone tail came into view, and smashed into the ground beside him, leaving a considerable dent. Yumiko's ears flicked tensely at the sound, while Kuwabara tried not to piss himself. Her nose wrinkled as his disgusting fear-scent reached her, and she tried to focus on the scent of roses and blanket flowers instead.
"HE'S A ROCK UREMESHI!!! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO FIGHT AGAINST A TALKING ROCK???"
"By using something other than fists..." Maru mumbled to himself as he lowered to the floor, still quite exhausted from previous injury, as well as the gates of betrayal. Kurama gave a single chuckle at the comment, and stepped forward.
"I will fight him."
"Are you sure?" Yusuke asked.
"It would be ill-advised for all of us to attack without first knowing his power. Besides, I can hardly let Hiei get all the credit for this mission, now can I?"
As he finished speaking, he turned to Yumiko with a look that said "pay attention." and she straightened. So this would be another lesson, it seemed. He had told her a bit about his past over the last few weeks, and while she still knew very little, his prowess for assessing a situation, as well as leading others through it had been made clear. However, his tendency to observe his opponent first had her a little ill-at-ease.
"Be careful..." She whispered, noting the flash in his eyes as he turned back towards the demon beast.
"You want to die one by one? I can do that too..." Genbu said, watching the ruby-haired male approach.
YOU ARE READING
A Forest on Fire (KuramaxOc)
Fanfiction10 years ago, the psychic, Genkai used her powers to create the only cure for the 'pulse' curse. a terrible, and deadly power that rears its head in children of all species and was previously a death sentence for any found to possess it. When Spirit...
