AN: This is my first story, I hope you enjoy it. I have had this story stuck in my head for a good many years now and i have finally gotten around to writing it out.I hope this turns out as well as it has in my mind as it does on paper... er, computer. This is a HieixOC story.

Secret Treasure

A tall red-haired man lifted a ring of large, rusted keys from the carcass at his feet. Nodding to his shorter partner, he lifted them up and tilted his head to indicate the corridor to his left. His comrade merely nodded in response, sheathing his blade silently as he moved to follow the redhead through the corridor.

"Are you sure she's in here, fox?" the shorter one asked telepathically as they both peered into each of the barred cells. He sneered at some of the sights he was greeted with, hoping their charge wasn't in such a horrid condition; he wasn't looking forward to the task of restraining his partner's anger, restraining his own was enough of a problem.

The redhead nodded, "Yes, I am sure of it, I can feel her. It's very faint, but it's definitely her. We need to hurry." He quickened his pace as the words sounded in the mind of his cohort, who followed suit.

Nearly skidding to a halt, the taller male swiftly turned, eyes widening as they fell upon the lone figure in the center of the cell before him. "A… Amane…" He whispered softly, his voice wavering in disbelief as his eyes roamed over the prone body, unconsciously stepping closer to the bars, too stunned to do anything more for a moment, dropping the ring of keys.

"Fox?" The slight hint of worry in his teammate's voice snapped the redhead back to reality and into action.

Swiping the keys from the dirty stone floor, he quickly picked one out and thrust it into the lock, jerking it back out again as it did not turn. Trying another, he growled in frustration, as it would not turn. Grabbing at a third key, he roughly shoved it in the keyhole, letting out a sigh of relief a it turned and unlocked the bar door and he swiftly flung it open, rushing inside and kneeling down in front of the unmoved figure lying on the cold stone floor.

Hiei looked around before entering the cell to stand next to his partner, brows furrowing as he took in the condition the girl was in.

The girl was lying mostly on her stomach, but somewhat on her right side, her back to the opened cell door, facing the two men. She was obviously a youko, though her tail and ears were dirtied and looked mangled and worn, most likely from abuse and manhandling. There was more evidence of abuse in the myriad cuts and bruises adorning most of her body, her back striped in slashes and welts, as from a whip. Her hair fell over part of her face, obscuring some of it from view, and fell over her shoulders and back, covering some of her wounds. Her ankles were bound together in rough iron manacles with a thick chain connecting them together and to the floor; her wrists were in a similar condition, only that chain connected to the wall she was facing. She had her arms folded beneath her chest, hands below and off to the side of her chin, somewhat hiding her bosom whereas her clothes did not as they were nothing better than rags, shredded and torn. She was wearing what would have been a tube top of some kind of diaphanous fabric and a long skirt split down each side seemingly from the same material; judging from the outfit, it seemed she was made to be a performer or dancer, which most likely lead to worse, for her, anyway. Her face was smudged with dirt and blood, a few scrapes and cuts scattered about on her cheeks and forehead, Hiei frowned when he realized one set of slashes on the cheek he could see was indeed a set of slashes, from claws. Overall, she seemed in no critical danger from any of the wounds, but, if left untreated, it could become fatal.

Noticing his partner shaking, the Jagan master frowned. "Fox?"

Reaching a shaking hand out, the redhead brushed back some of the hair that obscured his view of the girl's face as gently as he could, still eliciting a soft whimper of pain from her lips. "Amane…" He whispered as his fingertips gently ran down an unscathed part of her forehead and cheek. Closing his eyes, the plant-wielder clenched his hands into fists at his sides. "Hiei, cut her loose." He bit his lip to keep his anger from boiling over, he needed to focus on her, not what he wanted to do to the demons that… He sighed, shaking his head of those thoughts as he shifted to give Hiei room to work.

Hiei unsheathed his sword and knelt down on one knee to examine the chains binding the manacles together at her wrists and those at her ankles. Turning to the thicker chain from the wall, he slashed at it once, severing it like ribbon, shifting, he did the same to the chain from the floor. Looking over to his partner, he gestured to the girl. "Turn her a bit, Kurama."

Nodding, Kurama did as he was told, tenderly shifting the girl to lie more on her side, but also almost on her back, letting her body lean against his without pressing against any wounds. The girl hissed in pain at the adjustment, brows furrowing, her face contorting in pain. "Shhh… It's alright… you're fine." Kurama soothed the girl, his soft tones a gentle, sibilant whisper as he stroked her hair softly.

Hiei spread her legs apart a bit, examining the tight fetters on her ankles. "Is there a key to unlock them? I'll only be able to sever the chains."

Kurama looked at his stolen ring of keys and shook his head. "I'm afraid not, some other guard must have them. We just need to make sure she's able to move freely, I can get the binds off of her later. We just need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Hn." With that, Hiei took the chain in hand and, in two quick slices, removed the chain from both rings around her ankles.

"Ung…" The girl stirred, moaning softly in pain, her eyes opening blearily. "Wha…" Her eyes snapped open, wide with fear, as she saw a man with a sword and felt arms around her upper torso and waist. Panicking, she writhed and struggled in the arms, gasping in pain as she moved. "No… no, get away…"

Kurama struggled to hold her still while not hurting her further. "Wait, it's okay, we're here to help. We're not going to hurt you." Kurama gasped out in surprise and pain as she elbowed him in his lower stomach. He held her tighter against him, so she could only barely wiggle around, Kurama whispered in her ear. "It's okay, we're not going to hurt you, we're going to get you out of her, okay? Be still." Whispering soothing words and gently rocking from side to side a bit, Kurama waited until she stopped struggling, mostly from exhaustion and lack of want to be in pain. "That's a good girl." Turning to Hiei, he nodded, shifting his arms on his ward. "Hiei, get her arms free."

Hiei nodded and slowly reached out to take hold of her arms. As he felt her body stiffen, he heard his partner soothing her again. He let her arms rest on top of Kurama's forearm, her hands hovering over the floor.

"He's only going to cut the chain, like he did your ankles." Kurama pointed to her feet, "see?"

Hiei grasped the chain in one hand and, feeling frightened eyes watching him, severed both ends of the chain slower than usual, to let her see his movements. When he was finished, he shifted back a bit and sheathed his sword. "Finished."

Kurama then shifted and turned her a bit to lean against his chest. "See? Now, hold still so I can check some of these cuts." Seeing the relief wash over the girl's face as she realized they were not trying to trick her, Hiei noticed she was still shivering. As Kurama checked over some of her wounds, frowning at some and sighing at others, Hiei removed his cloak.

"Later, Fox. We need to get out of here." Hiei curtly whispered, draping his cloak over the girl's shoulders, the dark cloth both covering her and warming her. "More demons are approaching." With that, he abruptly stood and flitted out of the cell, and a few seconds later, the two heard a quite 'thump' of something falling to the floor.

"Alright, let's get you out of here, okay?" At the girl's quiet nod, he swept an arm under her knees and held her close to his chest as he stood effortlessly hefting her weight. Stepping out of the cell, he turned his head to see Hiei signaling him to follow.

Running up the stairs and through corridors, they disappeared into a shadowy corner, only to slip through a concealed break in the wall and slip out of the fortress. Stopping for a moment, they listened to the sounds coming from within the oppressive building. Yusuke and Kuwabara were obviously doing their job. Kurama smiled at his best friend, who only rolled his eyes as he heard a rather loud scream that obviously came from Kuwabara. "Thank you for your help, Hiei." The redhead whispered softly as he gazed at the, once again, sleeping girl in his arms.

"Hn." Hiei grunted in response, shifting the cloak to better enclose the girl. "Let's go."

Running again, they fled to the cover of the trees of a nearby forest, jumping from branch to branch until they came to a small clearing deep within. Kurama jumped down to land at the base of a rather large tree, kneeling down to lay his charge down on the soft grass. The girl whimpered a bit as the ground pressed against some of her more painful wounds.

Kurama fussed over the girl frantically, haphazardly bandaging wounds and petting her hair, trying to calm her as they waited for their comrades. "Hiei, how far is Mukuro's fortress from here?" The fox directed worry-filled eyes towards his best friend, his hands wringing the sash of his tunic fretfully. "She needs treatment, now." His voice allowed for no argument, though Hiei didn't think he could refuse the fox with this, especially not when he felt the full force of the youko's determined and yet somehow, pleading eyes on him.

"Hn. Give her to me, I'm faster." Hiei sighed as he crouched down, letting Kurama put the girl in his arms. "I'll contact the detective and tell him to head there." With that, he flitted off, Kurama at his heels.

Well, I'll leave you all here for now, this was basically just a prologue, an introductory if you will. I do hope you have enjoyed this little bit of my story, I hope to update another chapter in the next week or two. I'll see you all then, Bye!