A/N: There's something about being the only one available to drive my siblings around that just makes my days quite a bit busier than they would be. That's my excuse for not updating in a couple days, by the way.

Disclaimer still applies. I really need to get a general one that I can adjust to whatever story I'm currently writing so that all I have to do is copy and paste it in...

Enjoy.

(Hiei's POV)

I glanced around the woods; though, I had no idea what I was looking for. Looking over my shoulder to see if Tori was still following me, I found myself looking at empty woods. I frowned and called her name, hoping she was somewhere nearby.

"Tori? Tori!" I didn't bother keeping my voice quiet: I could defend myself if something other than Tori heard me and decided to investigate. "Tori, dang it, where are you?" I started to walk back the way I had come, scanning the space around me for any sign of the girl. Figures she'd stray off, I thought to myself, Take your eyes off her for even a second and she gets into trouble. First Li, now Tori. What is going on with these girls?!

I decided to try a different approach. Tori? Hopefully she was within the area I could reach with my mind. Tori! I continued to walk back the way I had come, wondering just when she had wandered off and periodically calling out for her with both my voice and my mind.

A few moments later, I got a mental answer, but the voice that answered wasn't Tori's. Who calls? The voice seemed to be male, but it's hard to tell with mind voices. I decided to play it safe until I knew who was talking.

I am. I'm looking for- I didn't get a chance to explain as the other cut me off.

I don't want to hear why you are calling, all I wanted to know is who is doing the calling. 'I am' doesn't give me enough information. The voice was silent for a moment, then, Stay where you are, I want to see who you are. I stopped obediently, also wanting to see who had answered me. A moment later, I caught sight of a form coming through the trees. As it came closer, I realized that 'it' was a he, as I had thought, and he was not human, however much he looked it; the green hair gave it away immediately. His green eyes didn't seem to hold any animosity, though, so I relaxed slightly.

He stopped in front of me and looked me over, as I looked him over. Now that I could see him more clearly and could see/sense his aura, I realized that he must be an earth elemental, one of those beings able to completely control the earth, trees and even the very rock with their power. Finally, he took a deep breath and let it out.

"Well, I can't say I expected to find a fire demon at the other end." He said. His voice was a light tenor and it had a whispery effect that sounded like leaves blowing in the wind. He held out his hand. "My name's Shiki. What's yours?" I took his hand slowly.

"…Hiei." I replied, slightly confused by Shiki's behavior.

"Nice to meet you, Hiei." He said, smiling in an amiable manner. "Now, you said you were looking for something?" I nodded.

"I'm looking for a girl who was with me." I told him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Lost your girl?" He asked, his smile growing broader. "Tsk tsk. That's no way to treat a lady, you know." I glared at him.

"She's not my girl." I said venomously. "We just happened to be together because we're looking for a companion of ours."

"Well, you certainly seem to be doing a stellar job of it!" He said, laughing. I sighed, realizing it was futile to be angry, much as I would have enjoyed separating his head from his neck. He grew serious again. "Why don't you tell me the name and appearance of your friends and I'll see what I can do to help you look for them?" I consented; at the moment, I could do with any help I could get, even from an annoying earth elemental.

"Well, the one I was calling for is Tori." I said, giving Shiki Tori's description. "And the one we were looking for is Li-Sanya-" Shiki cut me off.

"Li-Sanya?" His expression changed to one of intense curiosity. "Li-Sanya is alive?" I nodded, leaning back a little as Shiki put his face close to mine. "Li-Sanya the Makai queen? She's alive?" I nodded again, wondering why it was so surprising to him. The news seemed to shock him beyond belief, though, and he groped around for a tree. Finding one, he slid down to the ground holding his head in his hands.

"Man! She's alive! Who would've guessed?" I watched as he muttered to himself. "Wait 'till the others hear this! Kugo'll flip his lid!" He glanced up at me. "Hey, Hiei? Would you come with me for a short bit? I need to go meet some people before we start to look for Li-Sanya and your Tori." I shrugged.

"Fine." I couldn't see why not, if it would help us find Tori and Li. Shiki stood up and beckoned to me, walking off again into the woods.

"C'mon then." He said over his shoulder. "It's a fair walk."

Twenty minutes later, Shiki stopped me in front of a large cave mouth. He disappeared into the darkness and I soon heard shouts of disbelief and joy from the depths. A moment later, he reemerged with several demons. One, I was surprised to recognize.

"You?!" Toya(1) looked over at me with surprise.

"Oh, it's you. You were at the last Tournament." The ice demon said calmly, recognizing me. Shiki looked between us.

"Well, seeing as you two seem to know each other, I'll just introduce the others." He indicated a taller fire demon with wild, rust colored hair and onyx eyes. "This is Kugo. He's our expert on explosives and other pyrotechnical stuff. The kitsune over there," Here he pointed to the black fox demoness with long black hair and sharp black eyes. I was reminded of Youko, Kurama's demonic self, as she glanced at me. "Is Niseka and she's our healer." Shiki bent down to put his mouth next to my ear. "I'd stay on her good side, if I were you." He said in a stage whisper. "Knowing how to heal a body means she also knows how to mutilate it beyond repair. Plus, she can do it just by looking at you." Kugo laughed as he overheard Shiki's remark.

"I'd say so!" The fire demon's voice was a deeper tenor than Shiki's, but it had the lightness of humor in it. Somehow, I was reminded of Yusuke when I heard him. "Remember that last Tournament we were in? You managed to insult her while she was fighting and she broke your arm right after she made her opponent implode!" He started laughing while Shiki shot him a glare that should have restricted him to his bed for several weeks. The earth elemental's voice was full of disdain when he answered.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Kugo." He said, sniffing. Toya looked thoughtful.

"Or that time when you mixed up her herbs, Kugo." The fire demon stopped laughing abruptly and glared at the ice demon. "From what I recall, you were unable to eat solid foods for two weeks and we had to specially prepare your food."

"Hey! That was uncalled for!" Kugo protested, jumping at Toya. They started to fight and Niseka sighed, speaking up for the first time.

"Of course, there was that time all three of you decided that swimming in below freezing waters would be fun and I had to restrict Kugo and Shiki to their beds for a month because they got pneumonia. Then they had to take what they called a 'vulgar-tasting concoction from the devil himself' which restricted them to their beds for a further week and a half." The two mentioned looked up indignantly, but decided against making her regret it. She just smiled thinly and turned to me. "Now, Shiki says you're looking for Li-Sanya and another girl?" I nodded, thankful that at least one of these people had a brain.

"Yes. Can you help me find them?" I had to force the words out; I was unused to asking for help. The fox demoness glanced at her companions who had become serious again.

"What do you think, boys? Shall we go rescue the mistress and the little bird?" The 'boys' all made a big show of conferring with each other then turned back to Niseka and I. Giving us big smiles, they all held up a thumbs-up sign. Niseka turned back to me. "Well, that seems like a yes." She said dryly.

A few moments later, she had divided us into two groups, Shiki and Toya in one group and Kugo, Niseka and I in the other. As she separated us, I heard her mutter, "At least I know Toya and Shiki won't tear each other's throats out within two minutes like they would if I put Kugo with them." I had to smile slightly at that; she sounded a lot like Kurama when he divided us on missions. Finally, we were ready. There was at least one telepath with each group, so if we found either Tori or Li, we would be able to contact the others. Niseka sent the other group off in one direction and we set off in the other.

(1) Hey, I can't always have OCs ready to pop out of the woods whenever I need them to. Some non-OCs are good, too!

A/N: Well, Chapter 3 (not counting the prologue, but if you are, then it's chapter 4) is now finished. Yahoozums. Anyway, I am currently suffering from writer's block on the section of the story I am currently writing (approximately fifteen chapters away) and if anyone has any ideas, please let me know in a PM or in a review and I promise to at least consider it. If I do use your idea, your name (username, that is) will appear in the credits as the true source of that. There's your challenge.

In the meantime, look forward to the next chapter when (I think. Let me consult the master plan...) we finally find Li again. Also, for those of you who are going "What the crap is all this?!," it all gets explained later on in the story, so just hang in there. Until later, then, dudes.

Haliaetus