In This Cage

[confluences]

It was midnight, darkness having taken hold of the night sky with it's deathly tight grip. There were no stars to be seen or a moon to be glimpsed, heavy black clouds having covered them up as per usual. It was always raining when she arrived here. Each day and each night. No - that was wrong. This time was different. She could sense as much as she got off the cable car. She swallowed hard, stepping onto the platform once more. Brown eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness that spread out before her, that seemed almost alive, snaking its way through the thick foliage and towering treeline. It could be alive - in a sense. Well, there were so many spirits.

A shiver ran down the length of Yuuri's spine, her skin prickling. No, it was best not to think about it any more. She had best get a move on it if she wanted to hopefully find Hisoka before anything awful happened to her! Hisoka was her only real friend, her mentor. She had given her a reason to keep going after everything that had happened.

After sucking in a breath, she stepped off of the platform and made her way onto the beaten path. Although Mt. Hikami hadn't become a blossoming tourist attraction like many had hoped it would, plenty of visitors came here for the ghost stories or to... to... to off themselves. She hadn't been the first back then, and she wouldn't be now. People came here to do as they pleased. Some came for the ghost stories, or some to find out the truth about other things. There were many stories about this mountain. From the stories that cropped up after the global pharmaceutical company Umbrella tried to buy up the sacred property only to leave to defend itself from viscous - but true - accusations about it's hand in bio-terrorism, which told of the appearance of corrupted animals, so called demons haunting the woods. But so far she had seen no signs of such things or heard anything unusual.

Well, anything beyond the cries and whispers of spirits.

The rain had grown heavier the longer she trekked up the mountain side. She had made this journey before. Once, long ago... for a moment her world narrowed, and like an old film the memory played back for her. She had been younger than, afraid of her powers, her Kagemi... and Hisoka, ready to pull her back. Hisoka...

Snap out of it, Yuuri.

She shook her head, blinking the memories away. She needed to focus. Day dreaming about the past wasn't going to bring Hisoka back. It wasn't going to reveal to her where her friend had gone, because surely Hisoka hadn't come here to kill herself. She just wasn't that kind of person! She wiped her brow with her forearm, the rain on her face and arms only making her skin all the more slick. This was no good, the wetter she became, the more she would attract spirits. She'd have to stray off the path some to shelter herself under the bending branches of ancient trees.