Well, this is the newest chapter...Three! Yay!

I have only a few things, really, to say. First, thank you to all the reviewers who reviewed. Second, thank you all for being patient. Third, there are a few readers that went out of their way to do something that really bothered me and I would like to address the problem now. WE have been flamed. And as easy as it is to ignore the trash that some people say, several people went out of their way to search out Yabou's e-mail address and directly insult both us and the story. Quite a bit of effort on the flamer or flamers' part. Even though we got a bit of a laugh from the content (sniggers) of the e-mail, the stupid part was that they sent these e-mails to the person that had not even written anything yet. Anything that they thought was wrong and that they felt the need to complain about, was my work. So, if you two are reading this, your stupidity shined through! Congratulations.

And a quick note from Yabou~

~ Hiya people! I just wanted to say hello since this really is my first "appearance" in this fic with SylvannaStar. Glad you all are enjoying the fic so far, and I hope that you continue to do so. Thanks for reading, ~ Yabou.

That goes for both of us! Enjoy!

Sylvannastar

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The girl started to thrash again when Kurama was tying up the last bandage. He held her down, careful not to press upon any of her wounds. She cried out once, a pained sound that left all four boys feeling sorry for her. When she had calmed again, Kurama turned her a bit, until he was holding her head over the water.

Hiei watched the fox demon calmly wash the girl's dark hair. The water rinsed the majority of the blood away, and smoothed the tangled locks into thick silky strands. "Why are you doing that?" he asked the fox exasperated.

"It is soothing. I thought it might make her feel better."

Hiei looked at Kurama as if he were crazy. The girl did seem calm now...of course, she was also unconscious. Hiei felt no need to point this out, but stood by his first impression. The fox was insane.

"If I hold her up, will you dry her hair?" Kurama refused to look up, knowing Hiei was probably getting annoyed with him. That he expected the fire demon to do something so useless...for him anyway...was sure to aggravate the other man. Despite his gruff manners, Kurama knew that Hiei had a caring heart...or at least an honor code that refused to let him prey upon those weaker then he was. He heard the long drawn out sigh and smiled slightly.

Hiei watched the other demon struggle to pull the girl into a half-sitting position. He reached out with his energies and quickly heated a small pocket of air that pulled the dampness from the thick ebony tresses. When he was finished, her long hair hung in soft cloudy waves to the small of her back. His analysis before had been correct. She really was quite beautiful. He almost wished he could have seen her before all the bruises and scratches marred her skin.

The cave was dark, illuminated only by what energies Hiei was allowing to shine through his aura. Kurama looked around until he found a clear place near the opposite wall where the girl could lay down. "You should stay near her," Kurama told Hiei as they watched her shudder again. "She'll need your warmth before the night is through."

"Hn."

Kurama retreated to lean against the other wall, near Yusuke's snoring form. He was careful not to look at the fire demon, knowing that any sign that he was watching could cause Hiei to be difficult. He would sacrifice comfort and convenience just to prove a point that he was immune to feelings and emotions of any kind. Hiei was strange that way...

Kurama was all about comfort and convenience. He hadn't become one of the best thieves ever to plague the Makai just for the sport...but, that was behind him now, and though the quality of his life had not fallen to such an extent that he was worried about his comforts, he knew he could always get his paws on what ever he may need...or want.

Hiei was careful to wait until the fox seemed asleep before sinking to a sitting position near the girl. He didn't want it to look like he was getting soft...He stared hard at the woman, and wondered if it would be worthwhile to take a peak into her mind. He fingered the white strip of cloth that was tied over his Jagon eye and considered if it was acceptable to invade the mind of the dying girl. There was no doubt in his mind that she would die. He still could not detect anything but the faintest bit of life energy surrounding her, even though he sat right next to her.

She's probably nothing but a silly human girl with a head full of stupid nonsense...Hiei scoffed. He had no desire to see her thought about the newest fashions or the cutest boys in her school or what ever modern teens think about. Deciding that she had nothing worth taking the time or effort to retrieve from her mind made him drop his hand back to his side where it automatically went to rest on the hilt of his sword. The only information that she might have that would be of any interest to him was an image of the demon that brought her here...and unless she was thinking about that demon right now, he would not be able to find that particular information by simply wanting it.

Delving into her mind seemed less and less appealing as he thought about it. He frowned at himself for even considering it. Now, it seemed like nothing but an extremely stupid idea. One he felt annoyed at himself for even contemplating to begin with. He decided that being angry at himself was a waste of energy and relaxed against the cold stone of the cave wall.

He found himself staring at the slender form at his feet again and had to force himself to look at something else. He settled for the dirt floor. It was a floor. Completely covered in dirt and dust. Marred by a few light tracks the boys had made...and the faint stain of blood where the girl had rested when they first brought her in. That though automatically made him look back to her...Damn it. He grit his teeth and cursed at himself. This time, he couldn't pull his eyes away. She was stirring, a slight movement that was no more then a twitch which indicated that she was dreaming...

What is she dreaming, I wonder...He fantasized that she was reliving the torture of the demon attack and falling through the barrier in some ghastly nightmare. He found his hand had traveled back up to touch the white head band again and narrowed his eyes at her petite figure. With his luck, it was nothing but a blind date gone wrong that was plaguing her thoughts.

He snorted and looked over to the other guys on the team. Cuddled together, they appeared asleep and rather uncomfortable. He smiled rather wickedly. Their discomfort was in some small way amusing to him. Perhaps because he felt that they were spoiled and needed their eyes opened to the harsh reality of the world...or perhaps it was the fact that he was completely at easy in nothing but his regular clothes, in a cave surrounded by snow, in the middle of the demon realm.

The irony was in that he should be the one with the greatest problems with this case. He was entirely too close to the home and family that had never accepted him and the place of his own cursed origins. As a forbidden child, he had been cast away, left to die...Now, here he was, stronger and more powerful then they had ever dreamed he would become. They had been right to fear him...the koorime had been wise in their assessment of the fire demon and his birth. There was no place for him here in the frozen wastes where only the ice apparitions made their homes.

Hiei was left to wonder though, since there was no way short of invading the girls mind to find out what dreams she was living...

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(Okay everyone, here is the collaborated efforts of both myself, and Yabou in this section. I will be sure to grant credit to any parts of the story that were not specifically written by my hand alone. So, thank you Yabou!!!!)

A numbing pain jolted sharply through Kagome's body as each ragged breath forced its way through her aching lips. So much pain… Flashes of red, black, and silver flew quickly in and out of the edges of her blurred dreamscape. She knew this wasn't real. Hell had to be more definite than this. This...this was memories blurred by the raging of her emotions and the swell of magic straining against her barriers for freedom and release.

Kagome decided that she hated the color red. It surrounded her, enveloped her. It invaded every space and painted her dreams...Kagome even imagined that she could smell the color. It was the essence of pain and death. It was bloody crimson and broken hearts. It was memory and time. It was hopelessness and emptiness. More then anything else, it reminded her of him...

It was consuming her. And she was so frightened. It was all she saw...and everything that she wished could fade away. The scarlet color was all there was in this world. It was all she had...when everything she wanted was beyond her reach.

Red.

Sunset.

Battle.

Death.

Blood.

Red.

She attempted to focus on any one area of the foggy frontier. The throbbing pain threatened to overwhelm her as she watched unclear smears falling through the haze. She believed that they were manifestations of the energy swirling around her. She imagined that she could feel tears pricking at her eyelids as a pain wrenched away her focus on the strange patterns of energy surrounding her.

Another wave of agony shot through her limbs as she strained desperately against the swirling darkness that slowly seemed to be overpowering her system.

She could feel the strong emotions tugging at her very soul, compelling her to continue on and finish her uncertain mission. There was something left undone, though she couldn't remember what that something was. She grit her teeth against the dizziness and allowed those sensations to define themselves in her mind. She found sadness… anger… desperation… and they were hers. An ever-growing pain clouding her world, forcing everything else to fade away into a recent memory that solidified into another draining dream.

Kagome was frozen in cold...in fear...in pain...and in time. "Inuyasha! Run!" she screamed. But she found even her voice had left her. She was trapped, a statue of herself watching the boy she loved fight for their lives....

A dark mass struggled in a wave to overtake the figure before her eyes. It spread, slinking through the air, silent and deadly. Thick tendrils drifted toward where she stood and Kagome forced herself to ignore the bone chilling terror that was threatening to send her running for safer ground. She would have turned tail and run long ago if it were not for the lone figure clothed in red that stood to defend her. She would not abandon him. She could not abandon him.

"Run!"

He couldn't hear her. It was no more than a dream...a memory. But the fear, the pain was real enough even now, even here. "Inuyasha..." she whimpered.

(End of collaborated section)

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Hiei pursed his lips and glared at the ningen at his feet. Her whimpered plea was garbled and unclear, but he heard her abused voice clearly enough. It was scratchy and hoarse from fever and disuse. Noticing her shiver again, his body automatically responded by increasing the temperature. He realized that it was probably a losing battle and that he should not even bother to attempt to comfort her, but somehow, he pitied this human girl.

Studying her dark head and the lines of pain bracketing her mouth even in her fretful sleep, he wondered at his own reaction. Pity was probably wasted in this case, but it was there all the same. She was lost, far from home and family and destined to die alone.

He shifted uncomfortably and traced the edges of the hilt of his sword in a meditative movement. He knew why that bothered him and he scowled at his own weakness. Hiei firmly believed that this was very close to the death that he would one day face himself. He had no home, no family, and few real friends. The closest person to him was the fox, and that was more of a carryover from their original alliance then an actual friendship...not for lack of trying on the kitsune's part, but Hiei found it difficult to open up to anyone.

Oh, he was fully aware of the benefits of close companions, but in truth, Hiei was unable to push aside the concern that once someone got to know him, they would leave him. He didn't know if he could face that kind of rejection again. Even the unintentional abandonment that came from growing apart, finding other more intimate companions, or the death of anyone he would come to like was a threat to his carefully balanced emotions. And Hiei knew that balance was essential for his very survival.

The mixing of demon blood was not uncommon, how ever, the mix of ice apparition and fire demon was unheard of. Any child created from such an unnatural union would be fighting for its very survival for the entirety of its existence. The two elements warred each other, each trying to consume and destroy. Hiei was in constant turmoil with in his own blood. A slip, and he could lose control completely and fall into the storming rages that battered at his inner spirit. And he knew that he was too strong to go into a demon rage and not cause a vast amount of damage...

Twisting aside, he faced the sleeping girl more fully and peered intently at her scratched face. The softest whimpers were escaping from her chapped pink lips and he winced when she jerked in pain. Surprised she wasn't dead yet, Hiei scanned her bruised body and saw that the bandages covering her shoulder wound were starting to show a faint pink where her blood was seeping through. Kurama would have to change those in the morning...

Hiei scowled. What was he thinking? It was not like she would still be alive by the time the sun found its way to the horizon. He determined to ignore his strange burden and instead looked at the weapons still clutched in that unyielding grip. Inching closer in curiosity, Hiei prodded the woman in the arm before settling nearby. He lack of response encouraged him to reach out a hand and tug at the broken bow resting across her stomach. She jerked again in response and moaned loudly. Hastily releasing the warn wood, he stared at her face until the lines over her forehead relaxed.

He frowned at her and turned back to the objects she carried. More then the bow, the sword interested him. He was quite good with a blade himself and found the battered sheath and hilt were the most curious things about this situation if you disregarding her sudden appearance itself.

Careful so he did not wake her, he reached out a hand to touch the chipped and beat up hilt with the tips of his finger....before he made contact with the weapon, Hiei examined her face again. She seemed more peaceful then she had earlier and he was relieved. Her dark hair was spread out around her and curled in little wisps over her eyes. He found himself wondering what color those eyes were.

Feeling more then slightly frustrated with his own meandering thoughts, Hiei firmed his focus, thinking to grab the sword by its hilt to pull it from her grasp for a closer look. Just as he was about to take his opportunity to relieve his boredom with the dented katana, the girl sighed and shifted closer to his warmth. Finding the young human pressed against his legs was aggravating and he wanted nothing more then to push her away from him. But then, contact with another person was foreign and just as much as a curiosity to him as the rusted blade in her grip. Dropping his hand back down to his side, Hiei decide to let her have her things. He could always look at them after she passed into death. Until then, he could find amusement in analyzing his responses to the dirty ningen...who dared to touch him....

She seemed to be pressing herself closer as the dreams continued to terrorize the injured girl. Hiei normally would have killed her for taking that liberty. It wasn't that he disliked contact, though that was part of it. He just couldn't trust anyone that much. If someone got close enough to touch him, they were close enough to hurt him. That was another lesson he learned early and quickly. But this ningen female was no threat. She couldn't even open her eyes to see the danger she was placing herself in by attaching herself to the forbidden child.

And he couldn't help but notice how she visibly calmed when she touched him. Some how, his presence was enough to sooth the unconscious girl, though he could not see how anyone could get comfortable next to him. He knew he was a walking threat, a creature avoided by others even before they could identify him and recall his reputation. It was the vibe that he deliberately sent out; it was a warning and a promise that any death that he deemed necessary would be long and painful.

But this girl, she ignored that and seemed to be reaching for the person under the battle hardened criminal. Hiei shivered and was surprised at the sensation that she was causing to run through him and up his spine. The lone warrior was...comfortable with her proximity.

He shook his head and leaned carefully back against the wall without disturbing her position. He could see every detail of her wounds sharp against the pale skin and bandages that peeked through the holes in her clothes. After a few minutes, she sighed and the lines on her face relaxed as the nightmares left her. He saw the softening of her features and traced over them with his gaze. There were so many questions that he may never know the answers to, so many things about the ningen that intrigued him. With a faint smile flitting over his features that lasting only long enough appear as if a shadow had passed over him, he raised his body temperature again and tried to squash the nagging idea that the girl might actually make it . After all, she was strong enough to risk nearing him. She couldn't be all that weak if she found his presence, even in her sleep, no threat.

Hiei relaxed enough to rest casually against the wall of the cave with the young dark haired girl taking comfort in the touch of his body against hers. And odd as it was, he too found a measure of peace in the moment. His hand slipped back to his sword hilt as he thought about the mission and the beaten up surprise currently snuggled beside his knees. There was room for answers later, he thought, if she healed enough to wake up...