Hi y'all! (Yes I did say y'all). This is my first story so please go a little easy on me! I don't accept any flames but I do take any suggestions or advice anybody wants to share. Other than that I hope ya'll enjoy and tell me what you think. Thanks!

"I'm glad you two could make it," Koenma said to the two men standing before him in his office, "We have a problem and need you help."

"We stopped working for you years ago, Koenma," the darker haired of the two told him.

"I know that. You will be paid for this mission if you agree to take it. The mission is one of protection. This young girl is unaware of the amount of trouble she will be facing as she travels to the Mokuro," Koenma said, bringing up a picture of the girl in question on his screen.

"Then let the Mokuro guard her if she is traveling to her," the taller of the two men said.

"She tried, Kurama. Instead of guarding the girl, they attacked her. Fortunately for them, she killed them herself before the Mokuro could get her hands on them," Koenma said, "Mokuro herself has asked for the two of you to guard the girl on her journey. She will also be paying you."

"So you mean that we will be paid twice for the same job?"

"Yes, Hiei, that is what I just said."

"What's so special about this girl and why did Mokuro's men attack her?"

"We are unsure about either one. We do know that it has something to do with gemstones. Even the Mukuro is unsure, either that or she's withholding information from me," Koenma said a tad bit darkly, "But I'm not too worried about it. Since she asked for the two of you, she must believe that you guys can handle. Will you take this job or not?"

"Give us a moment please, Koenma," Kurama said, pulling Hiei to the side of the room where they whispered together for a few minutes while Koenma did some of the never-ending paperwork that came with his job.

"It's just going to be the three of us? Me, Kurama, and this girl," Hiei asked as he and Kurama returned to stand before Koenma's desk.

"That's correct."

"Then we'll take it."

"I was hoping you would say that. She's waiting at the temple in Monanis right at the moment waiting for her new escorts. She's been ready to go for a number of days now, so I'll get Botan to send the two of you there," Koenma said, handing them the communicator and the folder containing any other information they might need, before showing them out the door.

The young woman sighed as she rose from the kneeling position she had been in for the past hour while she was meditating. She was already calm and centered, had been since before she ever reached the temple a month ago, and didn't see why she needed to meditate. But the old priestess had insisted, saying that it would help cleanse her soul of the taint she had gained when she had killed the youkai that had attacked her a few days ago. She had complied with an inner shrug and sigh.

Now that she was done meditating she could do that which truly calmed and centered her, searching for the above ground gems. The ones that she found above ground were special; they called to her, telling her what to make them into. She loved those particular gems and never sold and rarely gave them away. The ones that she did give away, she gave to those that were very dear to her. She had given away these stones to one person throughout her life, her mother, who had passed away a few years ago.

As she left the inner sanctum of the temple and entered the courtyard that opened up to a forest, she took a deep breath of the fresh, incense-free air and was finally able to relax. While she could and would meditate to restore her calm and balance, she preferred to take a walk through a forest or meadow and let her bare feet connect her soul to the earth.

As she walked across the smooth, sun-warmed stones that made up the courtyard, her thoughts wandered to the stones she had found on her journey to the temple where she was to await her escorts. She had tried to convince Mukuro that she didn't need an escort for her journey and always been able to defend herself. But she found out that the Mukuro could be as stubborn as the day was long when she wanted. Now these three stones she had found were very special to her. She had never seen anything them before in her life and she doubted that she would find another. One of the stones was black, the blackest black that one would ever find in a gem. Such a stone would sell for thousands if not millions, except for one thing. It had streaks of the purest white running through it. The second stone was white, with spots of a lush red that only the healthiest of roses would have. The third stone was the purest blue that could only be found in the sky on the perfect simmer's day. While the colors themselves were unusual that wasn't what captured her attention so thoroughly. It was the fact that they gave no indication of what they wanted to be turned into. It was as if they were waiting for something. But what, neither she nor the stones knew. Because of this the stones were kept in a pouch, along with other stones, tied to her belt along with her tools and knives.

As she was thinking about and caressing each of her stones with one hand in said pouch, her feet took her into the forest, to a clearing where there were five life size and life-like figures in various attacking poses. As she neared a brown bear-looking youkai statue that was one and a half times as tall as she was, she looked at it and thought, 'Too bad there's no way to transport them. I'm sure Mukuro would get a kick out of this. I haven't been here all week, why would I come here today. These figures aren't calling to me.'

As her hand closed around two of her three special stones she got the feeling that she was being watched. When she let go of the stones to grab one of her hidden knives, the feeling passed. 'Now that is odd. Maybe these two are connected to someone,' she thought with a frown as she brought the special black and red stones out into the open, one in each hand.

She got the feeling that if these two stones were living creatures, they would be shaking with anticipation. Whatever they were waiting for was watching her. Now that she knew that there were at least two people watching her and that they were connected to her stones in some way she decided to wait them out. Upon making this decision, she put her stones up and moved to the center of the clearing and sat down, intending to meditate on what Mukuro could possibly want from her.

During the next two hours she came up with many ideas, each one more absurd than the last. After finally running out of ideas she left her meditative state and decided to work on a couple of her commissioned pieces. Assuming that her watchers would more than likely do something on her way back to the temple, she discreetly checked to make sure that her hidden knives were easily accessible and left the clearing. Even thought she appeared to be calm, she was alert and cautious. Even with her alert and cautious nature, she still jumped and pulled out two of her hidden knives and went into a battle stance when two men suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Calm down, girl. We're not here to hurt you," the shorter of the two said with no expression on his face.

"Well, you could've fooled me," she said, relaxing slightly in her stance.

"Our apologies. We did not mean to startle you. We merely wish to discuss a few things with you," the silver haired youkai said calmly.

"If that is the case, then we can talk at the temple," she said, putting her knives away and continuing her walk back to the temple.

I hope y'all enjoyed it so far. If ya didn't, let me know what needs fixin'. If ya did, let me know what ya liked. I should have the next chapter up in a week or so. Until then!