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Jul. 8th, 2006 05:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
onemuseleftLately it seems like I only want to start writing when it's time to go to bed.
This is the opening scene of Variation: Counterplay which will be easier to write once I finally finish the freaking chapter that comes before it. I am posting it here for no real reason other than I like the direction the story is going, and because as tired as I am now, if I save this to a word file, I'll forget about it by morning. At least this way, I'll notice it when I check LJ tomorrow.
Some way to surprise him, catch him unawares-
He's a mind reader, Kuwabara reminded himself. He reads minds. How do you surprise a guy who reads minds?
A voice in the back of his head, the one that usually started sounding off when he was about to get his head handed to him, pointed out. Well, maybe we should ask Hiei, since you're a freaking mind-reader and everyone and their great-grandmother seems to be taking you by surprise lately. His subconscious sounded vaguely hysterical, which had to be a bad sign.
Kuwabara threw his reiki down at the sand forming a thin disk-shaped barrier about eight meters across just beneath the surface, then snapped it upward at the center, sending sand flying, and bringing the main part of the kekkai directly between himself and Hiei. The fire demon hesitated for an instant, and Kuwabara changed direction, trying to get behind him.
But the Queen didn't seem to have control over their minds. She wasn't taking advantage of Kurama's tactical abilities, or his youki, or Hiei's demon fire, or their knowledge of his fighting style. In almost ten years, they'd learned a thing or two about how he fought, how he reacted; hell, Kurama and Hiei had trained him for the Dark Tournament, a lot of his moves had been theirs first, but they weren't parrying anything he threw at him. Just dodging and attacking, over and over. Plain, frontal assaults. Nothing fancy. It was like they were channeling Urameshi or something.
Hiei dropped out of the sky above him and Kuwabara's feet skidded against the sand as he changed direction.
All right, so she wasn't controlling their minds, but what good did that do him at the moment? Aside from prolonging his fate, because if Hiei and Kurama had genuinely been trying to kill him he wouldn't have stood a chance in hell-
Control their minds?
No, he couldn't do that. Aside from the fact that he wasn't anywhere near strong enough (and he really, really didn't want to be inside Hiei's head), he was pretty sure he just couldn't bring himself to perpetrate that kind of violation. The Jagan protected Hiei from mental assaults anyway.
The Jagan.
Hiei didn't read minds – he controlled the Jagan, and the Jagan read minds for him. The Jagan seemed to have something of a mind of its own, actually.
Hiei was right behind him now, Kurama moving in ahead to pen him in. In a minute he'd have to fight them both at once and then he'd either have to seriously hurt someone, or be seriously hurt himself.
The Jagan had a mind of its own.
Kuwabara dug his foot into the sand and turned, throwing himself into Hiei's attack.
The thin blade of the katana cut into him low and to the left, missing the heart by a good distance. Kuwabara grit his teeth as he felt the blade scrape against a rib, muscle and skin parting effortlessly against the impossibly sharp metal. It was hot too, which he somehow hadn't known. He felt the blade run him through, piercing the skin on a crooked angle and forced himself not to stagger or fall. He felt vaguely, stupidly, exposed, as if someone could see right through him, hanging off Hiei's sword in the middle of the demon world.
Fuck you, he thought at Hiei in particular, and grabbed at the hilt. Hiei had stood still with the attack; either the Queen waiting to see if it had done him in, or Hiei finally rebelling, Kuwabara wasn't sure. But he took the chance and grabbed at Hiei before the fire demon could react.
The warded bandages came away easily in his fist, revealing the third eye implanted in the center of Hiei's forehead.
Hiei let go of the sword, and Kuwabara's knees gave out on him.
This is the opening scene of Variation: Counterplay which will be easier to write once I finally finish the freaking chapter that comes before it. I am posting it here for no real reason other than I like the direction the story is going, and because as tired as I am now, if I save this to a word file, I'll forget about it by morning. At least this way, I'll notice it when I check LJ tomorrow.
Some way to surprise him, catch him unawares-
He's a mind reader, Kuwabara reminded himself. He reads minds. How do you surprise a guy who reads minds?
A voice in the back of his head, the one that usually started sounding off when he was about to get his head handed to him, pointed out. Well, maybe we should ask Hiei, since you're a freaking mind-reader and everyone and their great-grandmother seems to be taking you by surprise lately. His subconscious sounded vaguely hysterical, which had to be a bad sign.
Kuwabara threw his reiki down at the sand forming a thin disk-shaped barrier about eight meters across just beneath the surface, then snapped it upward at the center, sending sand flying, and bringing the main part of the kekkai directly between himself and Hiei. The fire demon hesitated for an instant, and Kuwabara changed direction, trying to get behind him.
But the Queen didn't seem to have control over their minds. She wasn't taking advantage of Kurama's tactical abilities, or his youki, or Hiei's demon fire, or their knowledge of his fighting style. In almost ten years, they'd learned a thing or two about how he fought, how he reacted; hell, Kurama and Hiei had trained him for the Dark Tournament, a lot of his moves had been theirs first, but they weren't parrying anything he threw at him. Just dodging and attacking, over and over. Plain, frontal assaults. Nothing fancy. It was like they were channeling Urameshi or something.
Hiei dropped out of the sky above him and Kuwabara's feet skidded against the sand as he changed direction.
All right, so she wasn't controlling their minds, but what good did that do him at the moment? Aside from prolonging his fate, because if Hiei and Kurama had genuinely been trying to kill him he wouldn't have stood a chance in hell-
Control their minds?
No, he couldn't do that. Aside from the fact that he wasn't anywhere near strong enough (and he really, really didn't want to be inside Hiei's head), he was pretty sure he just couldn't bring himself to perpetrate that kind of violation. The Jagan protected Hiei from mental assaults anyway.
The Jagan.
Hiei didn't read minds – he controlled the Jagan, and the Jagan read minds for him. The Jagan seemed to have something of a mind of its own, actually.
Hiei was right behind him now, Kurama moving in ahead to pen him in. In a minute he'd have to fight them both at once and then he'd either have to seriously hurt someone, or be seriously hurt himself.
The Jagan had a mind of its own.
Kuwabara dug his foot into the sand and turned, throwing himself into Hiei's attack.
The thin blade of the katana cut into him low and to the left, missing the heart by a good distance. Kuwabara grit his teeth as he felt the blade scrape against a rib, muscle and skin parting effortlessly against the impossibly sharp metal. It was hot too, which he somehow hadn't known. He felt the blade run him through, piercing the skin on a crooked angle and forced himself not to stagger or fall. He felt vaguely, stupidly, exposed, as if someone could see right through him, hanging off Hiei's sword in the middle of the demon world.
Fuck you, he thought at Hiei in particular, and grabbed at the hilt. Hiei had stood still with the attack; either the Queen waiting to see if it had done him in, or Hiei finally rebelling, Kuwabara wasn't sure. But he took the chance and grabbed at Hiei before the fire demon could react.
The warded bandages came away easily in his fist, revealing the third eye implanted in the center of Hiei's forehead.
Hiei let go of the sword, and Kuwabara's knees gave out on him.
