A/N: Wow… it's been like what, months since I last updated. It's not that I'd forgotten about the story, it's just that I had a bit of writers block (plus school kind of consumed my life so I didn't have time to get over said block). So I hope this chapter was worth the wait and I'll try to update sooner. Enjoy.

Rating/Warning: Still T, same reasons. Warning- perilous situations (but if you have a problem with that you probably haven't read this far so…) and some language. On another note, not everything in this chapter is completely believable if you look to far into it (like, if this were real, both Kuwabara and Hiei would be dead and I didn't want that to happen in this chapter so I pretended it would be possible for them to be ok) I did try to make it as believable as possible but some parts aren't really, so please just take it for the fictional story that it is and don't look to far into it, thanks.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but this story… still.

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Lost

Darkness. Darkness was the first thing Kuwabara was aware of when he came to. The second was cold, and the third was that he had absolutely no idea where he was or how he got there. The youth tried to shake his head to clear it, only to find that it was surrounded on all sides by snow. He gradually became aware of a dull throbbing ache all over his body.

Slowly it started coming back. Chasing the rabbit, yelling, running, the avalanche.

Shit. I am so DEAD!

Adrenaline started pumping through his veins as he realized that he might be several feet underneath hard packed snow with no way of digging himself out or even knowing which way to dig. He also wasn't sure how badly he had been injured in the avalanche.

Don't panic.

Kuwabara tried to get control of his panic. He didn't know how long he had been under all that snow or how much oxygen he had left. He had to think fast.

First, he had to figure out which way was up. He remembered hearing somewhere that if you're in an avalanche and end up under many feet of snow and need to find up, you should spit and see which way the spit goes. (A/N: another tip for skier ppl )

A lot a good that's gonna do me. I couldn't see the spit. (A/N: seriously! I've always wondered about that)

The red head searched his memory for another option but found none. So he decided to try the spit thing anyway. He used his head to form a small hollow around his nose and mouth. Then, he worked up as much saliva as he could with his dry mouth and spat... only to get a wad of spit back on his face.

Ok. I must be lying on my back facing up.

Next, he had to figure out how to dig himself out. He tried to move his left arm toward his face. No luck, the snow was packed tight, so he tried moving his arm in circles to wear the snow away. At first, nothing seemed to be happening, but then, he felt the snow give. It wasn't a lot and there was still much more snow between him and the outside air, but it gave him hope that maybe, just maybe, he wasn't so dead after all.

He continued to move his arm until it had a hollow around it, then he moved the other one in the same way, the left leg, then the right. As his limbs slowly freed themselves, the throbbing pain got steadily worse until it became sharp in some areas. Kuwabara began to worry more and more about broken bones. He also felt increasingly claustrophobic, he felt snow touching him from all angles, it was on his face, around his limbs, and pressing on his torso from both sides. He felt as if he was in his tomb and the feeling was stifling him. It took every ounce of self control he had to keep himself from a full fledged panic attack.

Eventually, he had enough space around his arms to start digging upward. The going was slow and more snow kept falling in after he dug it out. Terror took hold of him.

He dug frantically, losing himself to panic. He clawed and scrapped and threw the snow but it kept coming. Snow was falling back into his mouth and nose hollow. It got into his mouth and eyes and nose and he knew he must be suffocating. Kuwabara shot his arm up in a last ditch effort to push the snow away… and the tips of his fingers felt cold air.

He froze. He wiggled his fingers and felt wind. His other arm thrust out in the same direction and also found air.

I'm barely three feet under the snow.

Driven by the touch of frigid air above him, Kuwabara reformed the hollow around his mouth and continued digging.

About an hour later, Kuwabara's head finally cleared the snow. He took in several deep gulps of air and stretched out on the ground to rest. After he had regained his composure, he decided he'd better look himself over to see if anything was broken. Luckily, he didn't seem to be mortally injured. Unluckily, one of his legs was broken and so were a few of his ribs. He wasn't concerned about the ribs; it was the leg that worried him. He limped over to a broken tree branch nearby and made a pair of splints for it. He tied them on with a piece of his shirt and examined his work. It wasn't exactly a first rate job and he wouldn't be moving very fast, but at least he could walk for now. He just had to get to help before that became impossible too. He then looked out to see destruction caused by the avalanche.

The avalanche left a path of white down the side of the mountain, uprooting trees and tossing boulders. Nothing in its way remained standing. It was then, while looking at the wreckage, that Kuwabara remembered his pint sized traveling companion. Hiei had been caught in the avalanche too.

Now that Kuwabara's life was no longer in danger, he began to fear for his friend's. He knew that Hiei was more injured than he was when the avalanche hit. Could he have survived it? What if he hit a boulder or a tree? What if he was buried thirty feet under the snow and had suffocated? What if he was suffocating now? All these thoughts ran through the human boy's head in a matter of seconds.

The tall teen began walking as quickly as possible through the rubble trying to find any sign of his lost teammate. He searched for a long time and was losing hope when he found a clue. Hiei's bandana was lying in the snow, caught on a fallen branch. Kuwabara fanned out his search from that spot. Occasionally stopping to dig for a while then, not finding him, continuing on.

Then he saw it, a bit of black that stood out against the white backdrop. He hobbled as fast as he could to the conspicuous color. As he got closer, he saw that it looked like hair. Hiei's hair. When Kuwabara reached it, he began to dig. It was Hiei's hair along with the rest of him. In a matter of minutes, the youkai's face was visible. His lips were a deep blue and he wasn't moving. Kuwabara dug faster until he was able to remove the demon in distress (A/N: I love alliterations) from his icy prison.

Hiei didn't look to good. All his old wounds had worsened and were joined by new ones; dark bruises covered his body, he was bloodied up, his right arm was bent the wrong way, and he was barely breathing. The extreme cold was also taking a toll on his body, his feet and hands were frostbitten and Kuwabara suspected hypothermia. The harsh conditions compounded his illness turning his face sickly pale and making him wheeze when he breathed.

Kuwabara took this all in as he examined the injured demon. He doubted that he could wake Hiei up, and even more so doubted that he could walk even if he were awake. He also knew that they couldn't stay there, they had to find shelter soon, the sun was setting. The desperate detective looked up the mountain. The avalanche had carried them down but not far, they were near the peak of the mountain but there was no way he could carry both himself and Hiei there.

Kuwabara looked longingly at the peak and sighed, We have to find shelter.

He tried to pick up Hiei but his broken leg gave out and he fell to the ground with a gasp of pain. Looking around, the human youth spotted a large leafy branch that had been brought down by an avalanche. He dragged it over to where Hiei lay and placed him on top, then drug the makeshift sled and demon up the mountain in search of shelter. (A/N: if you've even seen Balto it's like that)

He wandered in search of shelter for an hour, unwilling to make a snow cave after the avalanche incident. It was almost dark when he came upon a cave. He drug Hiei on the sled inside and huddled as far away from the opening as possible. His leg was killing him and he doubted he could carry Hiei again the next day.

I have to make a signal for rescuers. But are we high enough? Is anyone looking for us?

He fell into an uneasy sleep with these questions in his head. He would make the signal tomorrow and then they would have to wait.

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A/N: Ok, so was it any good? I rushed it a little because I wanted to get it done while I had time so it might be a little sloppy. Is there anything I should do differently for the next chapter? I need input! Please review!