Tori the Hanyou: Okies, Chapter 4, I know y'all are just so psyched to read it, so I'll skip the chitchat and get on with it!

::In honor of Hiei's returning to the group in the show, and my friend Kira the Hanyou::

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Time's Destruction

Chapter 4: The Foe Revealed

:With Tori:

Now Tori found herself locked in a different cage. This one was new, and had no accessible hinges to pick, and a different lock that required a code instead of a key. Tori sat grumbling over Bakura's betrayal. Why the hell would he DO this to her?? She'd never done anything to him! She scoffed at the cloak next to her, not daring to touch it.

She once more checked out the cage, but like before, there wasn't any way of escaping. It was even smaller than the other one, with a four-foot high ceiling, but only a six-foot diameter.

She snarled as she looked through the bars at the quiet room. She'd now deduced she was in an old, abandoned casino. She saw some gambling machines in her flight from Bakura, and she figured these cages had been where they'd kept the entertainment animals, disgusting. Thank God SHE was in here instead of them.

She decided to listen around and see if she could hear anything interesting. Hmm, nope, not even a floorboard squeak.

It was like someone had put a blanket over the cage, for Tori soon realized she really COULDN'T hear anything!

It was getting creepier by the minute. The silence pounded into her ears. She looked around nervously, tapping her fingers on the floor of the cage to make sure she still had her hearing. Yup, it was still there.

But that's when her heart nearly leapt out of her chest. Out of the darkness, a pair of red eyes suddenly loomed, leering at her.

She was too horrified to scream, and too horrified to move. A sound came that suggested the lock being undone, but now Tori could care less. She'd huddled into the farthest corner of the cage, away from the door, clutching the cloak over her to try to hide.

That didn't seem to help, for she suddenly felt something thick wrap around her, dragging her out of her corner and towards the source. She felt like a mouse cornered in the snake's cage. She was gonna be constricted to death!

She trembled, trying to resist as best as she could, grabbing the bars near the door, but rough hands suddenly gripped them, gently prying the fingers off.

She felt herself being picked up, still bundled in the cloak, and whoever held her walked somewhere, holding her effortlessly in their arms.

She gulped as, after a while, she was dropped onto something soft, quite a change from that metal floor. When she figured the carrier had left, she wrenched off the cloak, only to come face-to-face with that glowing pair of rubies again!

She jumped, startled, and leapt backwards, suddenly feeling that she was gonna fall, but two arms grabbed her and pulled her back up roughly. Tori panted from the rush of adrenaline, and almost didn't hear the deep voice speak softly into her ear.

"Well, well, well, nice to see you too, Tori."

She jumped, her heart racing.

"Who-who's there???" she said, trying to keep her trembling voice under control. She felt whatever was underneath her move, and she soon realized she was on a bed...a big one.

She looked around wildly, struggling to get her eyes to adjust faster.

"No need to be alarmed. You're safe with me," said the voice again, and Tori froze.

Summoning her courage, she ironed out most of the tremors.

"How d-do I know I can trust you?" she said, backing away from the source of the voice. She suddenly realized she'd backed up against something warm, and she felt arms wrap around her.

Thrashing, she squirmed out of the grip and away from it.

"Don't worry, Tori," it purred, "you know me well enough. You can promise yourself I won't hurt you."

Tori gulped.

"Listen, Bakura, if this is some kind of joke..."

"Bakura's in the other room," said the voice again, "If you really don't like being around me, maybe I should leave." It put on a mock hurt tone.

"Yeah, maybe you should!" said Tori, getting more confident.

She felt the bed shift again as the person stood up, but Tori heard no footsteps.

She jumped when she felt something light drop into her lap. Darting her eyes down, they finally adjusted enough to where she could see it.

She gasped, picking it up.

"No...it can't be you..." she whispered, tracing a finger along the blade of the plastic sword.

She felt the arms encircle her again, but she did nothing to break away.

"You got it, Tori..." it whispered.

:Meanwhile:

"Mai! :pant: Can we...take...a breather?" asked Joey, trudging along behind the other blonde as she walked down Main Street, peering into every alley.

"NO! Not until we find some clue as to who took Tori!" said Mai.

"But that guy...uhh, Kurama...says he already knows who took her!" complained Joey.

"That doesn't mean he's right!" snapped Mai, "Quit being a baby!"

Joey gasped for air.

"Serenity would've NEVER pushed me this much..."

:With Kagome and Kurama:

"Sooo, can you remind me exactly what we're looking for?" asked Kagome as she followed her childhood friend through the streets. He was peering at some weird compass.

"With this compass, I should be able to locate all of the places Hiei has been in the city," said the kitsune, "including where he is now. But Botan hasn't charged it recently, and I'm afraid this battery's dying. It might actually start leading us to the wrong places."

"Then why use it?" asked Kagome.

"There might be a chance that we find some clues to his current spot at some of the locations he's been."

"Oh." There was silence. "Kurama?"

"Yes?"

"You guys aren't...REALLY gonna take Hiei to jail, are you?"

At these words, Kurama stopped, turning to her.

"We have no choice, Kagome," he said, his voice hushed, "it's the wishes of Koenma, and it's for the protection of many human lives, so I guess that overrules our..."

"No, it doesn't," interrupted Kagome.

Kurama raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?"

"Nothing overrules friendship, Kurama! You should at least TRY to get this Koenma dude to reconsider!"

"Kagome, it's not like we haven't tried..."

"Then try harder!!" cried Kagome, and she felt a tear on the corner of her eye, "I don't want to see one of my friends go to prison, no matter WHAT he's done!!"

Kurama sighed.

"Kagome, I know how you feel, but there's nothing..."

"But..."

"Shush!" he ordered sharply, putting a finger on her lips to silence her. Kagome's eyes widened. She'd never seen him act like that. When he removed it, quite flustered at his own behavior, she took a step back from him. "I'm...sorry, Kagome, I don't know what came over me..."

"It's ok, I needed that," said Kagome, looking away, "I was getting carried away again."

"I was saying that there truly isn't anything we can do to change his mind. I'm sorry, but we've done everything to try to save him. Hiei's been the only one truly hindering our efforts by committing more crimes, each more brutal than the last. He's murdered innocent humans, and in Spirit World, that's a huge felony."

Kagome hiccupped to try to hold back her tears. She was just as upset about this as Tori; mainly because Tori had been the one to be kidnapped by him.

"But why?" she whispered, "why him?"

Kurama cast his eyes to the ground.

"Come along, we don't have time to hang around."

He turned and continued his course, Kagome following silently behind him.

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