Rea: hello! sorry this took so long…I had a bit of writer's block…btw: I couldn't find a quote that I liked so I made one up! lol. that sorta shows how lazy I am…I'm not willing to waste time looking online when I could be doing something else…like trying to free myself of writer's block (despite my dear friend Ali's warnings)…of course, if my mom wants me to clean my room…I would be happy to look for quotes online, but it's incredibly boring unless they're funny. Anyways, read on! btw: I'm sorta stuck between letting Minna grow up throughout the story (and in this way, making the climax happen when she's 15 or 16) or keeping her as a child (making the story's climax happen to her when she's about six or seven). let me know what you would think is best for me to do. I'll go with the majority vote if anyone does vote. Voting ends by Jan. 2, 2005 so hurry up! Ah yes: reviewers:

CrazyDeafGirl: ...you warned me too late...i'm so sorry! btw: i have the manga for YYH so let me know if you want to read it, okay Ali?

escptheshdw835: I'm glad that you enjoy it!

AngelOfSilentDeath: I'm glad that you think it's funny...this part's a bit depressing, tho...

Hiei'scutegirl: yes, she's powerful. she just doesn't know that yet!

Everyone Who Reads This Story: HERE'S YOUR UPDATE!!!

Disclaimer: I do not own YYH, but I own Minna…and Harlequin my imaginary pet duck.

Chapter 4

"Dreams are born of the soul, and so show us what we truly are and who we can become."

Rea

The clouds caressed the young girl's head as stars created a soft blanket to keep her warm. The stark white hair blended into the starlight and her coal like eyes opened wide as a sound woke her. She sat up, pushing the blanket away from her small body. Her head turned all ways, looking for the source of the sound. She heard it again.

Silence.

Silence was the sound that the young girl was looking for. She slowly stood up, making sure that she would not fall into the deep abyss that she had been laying on. A small breeze, source unknown, blew around her ankles, making her feet move in the direction that it chose.

The young girl obliged, thinking that it would perhaps lead her in the direction of the silence. She smiled as the breeze tickled her small pale feet. Her eyes moved up to look at the deep night sky. She screamed.

It was grotesque. Humanoids of every disgusting form were twisting and turning in ways that would break a normal person. They were all a sickening purple, green, brown and black mixture and only their eyes showed any sort of soul within, shining with a creepy silver glow. Their golden teeth shown when they opened their mouths, grinning madly.

The girl screamed again and ran away, following the breeze. The breeze soon became a monsoon wind and nearly lifted her off of her feet. She screamed again and ran harder, her breath coming in painful gasps and her legs begging for rest.

Mud began to run between her toes. She looked down to see the odd change of landscape. Her eyes opened wide.

Black blood ran between her feet as if it were flowing in a continuous stream. The girl stopped running and stared in a sense of horrid fascination at the stream. Suddenly, the small trickle of black blood became a flowing torrent and swept her off her feet, almost drowning her in the taste of decayed flesh and stale blood.

She gagged and swam as hard as she could to the side of the torrent. She reached what appeared to be dry land and pulled herself up. She rested for a few seconds before seeing the river rise. She ran.

A column of light appeared to her right side. She hesitated just long enough for the blood to tickle her feet before she began to run towards the white light.

When the bottom of the column came into view, the girl smiled. Hiei was standing at the bottom of the light. The girl began to run down the slope when Hiei suddenly flew up hundreds of feet as the ground rose.

The girl cried out. Hiei had to save her. He would save her. She rand as hard as she could up the steep hill. She called out to Hiei. He turned to face her, his crimson eyes full of surprise. The girl reached out her hand to him. He hesitated. She screamed as the blood flowed up to her ankles.

Hiei frowned slightly and grabbed her hand, pulling her up to the safety of light.

Minna woke with a start, sweating immensely. She screamed as she looked up to see the same color on the ceiling as the humanoids had been. The ceiling began to squirm and silver shone onto Minna. Her scream vibrated through every palace wall.

Hiei sat up quickly when he woke, trying to shake off the feeling of intense danger. He shook his head, running his hand through his messy hair. He stretched quickly and grabbed some water, glaring out the open window. Hiei leaned against the wall and rested his head, recounting the vivid dream he had. The little girl had been there.

He felt his hand being squeezed. He looked down, crimson eyes glowing with surprise and déjà vu. Nothing was holding his hand but the pressure was there. He lifted his hand to his eyes and examined it.

He jumped as a high scream came to his ears. He slammed the door open and ran down the halls until he was at the little girl's room with Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara far behind, struggling to catch up.

He kicked the door open and gasped as he saw the little girl sobbing, babbling about a blood river and mutant humanoids in her room. Hiei paused for a second. That was when he felt the trickle of liquid play against his feet. He frowned and ventured into the young girl's room.

He picked her up slowly, letting her see who it was. She gasped as she saw him and gripped his neck as she buried her head against his chest, sobbing. He looked at her oddly and walked out of the room, not daring to glance at the ceiling.

Hiei had come to save Minna, just like in the dream. She was safe now because Hiei had made sure to save her. Minna sobbed as tears flowed freely down her face. She had never had nightmares like that before. It was real. Minna knew it was real because her room was now filling with black blood and disfigured humanoids. She glued her eyes shut and dared not to look outside of her own eyelids.