Disclaimer: STOP MAKING ME SAY THESE HATEFULL WORDS! I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. There. Happy?

Thankies to everyone who reviewed!! :) *Hands out cookies* there are more in the oven so review after you read this chapter! But no death threats please. They give me stupid evil writers block!

Celest Haha!

Shut up Celest, you suck.

***

--Garnet eyes opened slowly, then closed, then popped right back open. He stared around at the unfamiliar surroundings. What was he doing in the middle of the forest? How had they gotten out of that miserable fortress? Who was that girl tending to Kurama's wounds?

--"Oh good, you're awake." It was Elspeth. She had finally noticed that the three-eyed demon was awake. "I thought you were going to sleep forever!"

--"Well, how long has it been?" he replied, still somewhat startled.

--"Almost a week." Said Kurama, joining the conversation.

--"I'm sorry," Elspeth, said suddenly, "I don't think we were ever introduced. My name is Elspeth. I am the daughter of the king, though I'm not proud of it."

--"Hn. I'm Hiei"

--"Yes, I know."

--"Hn"

--With that, he turned his back on them and started staring into the water. Obviously in a very bad mood.

--"Well that's friendly." She muttered under her breath as she cooked their dinner. "Don't worry, he'll cheer up" said Kurama softly. "He's just resentful that he was in a position to be rescued." She nodded, understanding that his pride had been bruised.

***

--He stared into the water sulkily. He had been rescued. More than that, he had been rescued by a girl.

--Why, though? He had not done anything to help her. From what he had heard, she had rescued them both single handedly. He just didn't understand it.

--Maya. He had not told her where they were going. She might worry. She might come after him.

--'Don't be stupid.' He lectured himself, 'she would have to be insane to worry about me. I'm just a curse. She's probably glad I'm gone.'

--But he knew he was wrong. She would worry. She would come. She always came. She was always there for him.

***

--The sensation was like nothing Maya had ever experienced. It was like there were a thousand different forces pulling on her at once. Stretching her in different directions. Oddly enough it didn't hurt at all.

--It stopped as suddenly as it started. Looking around, she saw that she was in the middle of a ancient birch forest. Sunlight lanced down through gaps in the trees, etching the forest in gold.

--It would be an easy place to get lost in if it weren't for the fact that she had a lock on Hiei's energy from the moment she landed. Plus the fact that there was a large path directly to her right.

--The sound of horses' hooves, accompanied by the occasional murmur drifted down the path. It took her a moment to notice them. She was so preoccupied with finding Hiei.

--Slipping to the side of the path, she hid in the underbrush. Soldiers were approaching on horseback. They were laughing and talking among themselves

--Apparently they had just gotten back from ransacking a small village. They kept laughing at the way the villagers had screamed when they had set fire to their cottages.

--Maya narrowed her eyes, glaring at them. She had half a mind to charge out and kill all of them. She would have to if there hadn't been at least a hundred of them.

--Normally she wouldn't have cared about that. She didn't care about a lot of things. However, peering out from the thicket in which she was hiding, she could see a line of prisoners. She didn't want to injure them.

--Besides, if they captured her she couldn't look for Hiei. He was quite close. She could feel it.

***

--They rode on as soon as Hiei and Kurama were well enough. Elspeth led the way. Even though she had never been outside the fortress she seemed to know the way.

--On the third day they came across a stag. It was a silvery white that reminded both of the demons of Elspeth. And it made Kurama wonder.

--Who was she, really? Somehow he doubted that she was the King's daughter. Lord Vasco (for that was his name) looked nothing like her.

--He was as fat as she was slender. And where her skin was pearly white, as was her hair; his was an unnatural shade of pink. His hair was a nondescript grey, and he was perfectly bald on top.

--Picture an oversized pig in robes and a crown, and you'd just about have him. So you can imagine how Kurama had doubts.

--Then there was that crescent moon on her forehead. Now that he could see her clearly, he could se that it was not a scar. It must be a birthmark. Or perhaps, something else.

--But what else it could be he could not imagine.

***

--Maya ran through the trees. Leaping from branch to branch in a way reminiscent of Hiei's. She was close. Very close.

--She was near exhaustion, but she didn't care. All she cared about was reaching him.

--Hiei. One of the few people in this world she cared about. She would never forgive herself if he was killed.

--She knew she couldn't go on much longer. She would have to stop and rest. As she sank down in the fork of a tree, she called with her mind. "Hiei? Hiei, I'm here."

***

OK, that's it for now. I promise the next chapter will be much longer and more interesting. It is 3:59 a.m. I am going back to bed. Bye bye!