Fox: Sorry my chapters are so short. It sucks. This story was really something of an experiment--I wanted to see if I could actually finish a story once I started it.

Kyff: Hell must have frozen over because you did. Not only that, but it took you only a week, working every day in that useless class you call study hall.

Fox: -glares at Kyff- Anyway, this story will be only five chapters long. It's already done and on my computer, it's just a matter of finding the time to update that's going to be hard. I should be doing my English project right now...and my chemistry essays, and the government paper...or at the very least the calculus homework... -shrugs- Eh, whatever.

Kyff: Neither Fox nor I own any part of Yu Yu Hakusho. -pointedly ignores the hysterical sobbing in the background-


CHAPTER 2:
The Determining Factor


Dark oblivion, cold and silent. Hiei drifted in a pain-filled haze, floating in and out of the blackness of unconsciousness. In his few moments of lucidity, he wondered briefly whether or not anyone would come to help him. Briefly, because it would be months before anyone noticed his disappearance at all. Briefly, because the forbidden child had no true friends to worry about him when he was in trouble. No one would come for him. He was alone now, as he had always been, as he would always be.

Eventually, though he couldn't tell how much time had passed in the blackness, the fog in his mind dissipated. Dull crimson eyes opened slowly. He was in a sitting position, his neck bent back and his head on his shoulders, face upturned toward the sky as if awaiting divine judgement from above. All he could see was a starry night sky behind a blood red moon. Yes, what a great omen for an injured demon to see, Hiei thought sarcastically. What did Kurama call it when the moon turns red? Lunar eclipse. It must be a lunar eclipse.

The caressing warm glow of firelight touched his skin. He tried to turn his head to search for the source of the fire, but he could move only far enough to see the high, dead branches of a tree off to his right. He felt weak and tired, and had the sudden urge to let his mind drift back to the welcoming darkness. Just how much blood had he lost? His wounds were throbbing in pain. Gathering his strength, he tried to shift into a more comfortable position, and found that his hands were bound together around a long metal stake firmly embedded in the ground behind him. That same stake was the only thing holding him upright. "Damn," he swore softly, letting his head fall back again.

Footsteps crunched over the ground and stopped in front of him. Too weary even to glare defiantly at his captor, Hiei settled for a menacing growl.

A deep laugh floated over to him on the night breeze. It would almost have been charming if it hadn't been coming from the demon Hiei knew was responsible for his capture. "Growl all you want, little demon. It won't do you any good. In a matter of hours, you will be bleeding upon Lord Makiko's altar, your life in exchange for another year of security for us." A purple-gray hand came into view as the demon grabbed a handful of Hiei's obsidian hair and forced the fire demon to look him in the eyes, ugly yellow eyes filled with arrogance and hatred.

"Don't bother trying to fight it, my friend. You're slowly dying from the poisoning wards anyway. In the end, you'll prefer a quick death." The laugh came again and Hiei's anger rose up, giving him strength he didn't know he still possessed. He lunged, sharp fangs sinking into the tough flesh of the demon he now recognized as the one who had knocked him off the tree to begin with. The long, greasy hair and mottled skin were unmistakable.

He yelled in pain and jerked his damaged arm away, eyes seething with rage. He snapped an unintelligible order at some point behind Hiei's head, to a demon he called Tetsu. An equally unintelligable voice responded, and Hiei realized they were speaking in a Makai dialect that even he could not understand. It sounded like an argument.

Out of nowhere, a fist smashed into his face and his vision exploded into flashes of color.

He felt his head being jerked around again. Through the spots he saw the face of the purple-gray demon swim into view, a twisted smile on his disgusting features. "Before you die, useless demon trash, I want you to remember the name of the one who will gladly slice you from head to toe for Lord Makiko. My name," he snarled, "is Rono." This time it was Rono who hit him, grinning savagely as the blow connected, and the world went black once more.

Touya was close now. He could smell the scent of wood smoke coming from where the demons must have camped out. The fact that they made a camp at all worried him. The Shinobi were honorable, never murdering a bound and weakened opponent but instead fighting them face to face, even at the cost of their own lives. Risho was the one exception, the one dark stain on the Shinobi's noble history. Touya had learned well from his vicious leader about the ways of the dishonorable. He knew the torture would begin when Hiei's captors believed their camp to be safe and secure.

He slowed his pace and crept through the forest with caution. The moon, full and red, lit his way through the trees. A crimson moon... The blood of a powerful demon will be spilled tonight. He shrugged, a useless movement because no one was around to see it. Just so long as it is not Hiei's blood, I do not care.

Touya found a thick, tall tree and scaled up to a high branch. Using his catlike grace and stealth, he leapt from tree to tree until he was overlooking the clearing that held the demon camp. He kept his ki completely masked as he watched and listened to the activity below.

Just under a dozen demons of various species occupied the temporary settlement, though Touya was certain that more were on sentry duty and thus hidden from view.

The glare from the fire was so intense after the quiet darkness of the forest that at first he didn't see Hiei chained and staked to the ground a few feet away from the dancing flames. He was badly beaten and terribly weak, his head lolling back on his shoulders.

A dusty purple demon stood in front of him laughing. "Growl all you want, little demon. It won't do you any good. In a matter of hours, you will be bleeding upon Lord Makiko's altar, your life in exchange for another year of security for us." He stepped forward and grabbed a handful of Hiei's spiky black hair, forcing the fire demon's head into a level position so he could look into his eyes. "Don't bother trying to fight it, my friend. You're slowly dying from the poisoning wards anyway. In the end, you'll prefer a quick death."

Touya started involuntarily. Poisoning wards?

He examined Hiei more closely, and discovered with horror the wards placed on his arms and legs. Poor Hiei. He must be in terrible pain. He frowned. This is not good. If I do not get them off of him soon, Hiei is as good as gone.

He thought of losing Hiei, and for a moment he couldn't breathe. No, he told himself. No, I will not let him die. Not until I tell him how I feel. He deserves at least that much.

Touya saw his love lunge forward and tear at Rono's fleshy arm with his fangs, defiant even in the face of death, and it was as if his teeth were slashing at the ice master's heart instead. Hiei...

The ugly demon was speaking again, but Touya was no longer interested in what he had to say. He was planning the rescue of his beloved, and his revenge on the demon scum who captured him. His distant mind caught and locked onto one sentence as it reached his ears, breaking through the cloud of thoughts and plans.

"My name is Rono."

Rono, is it? Very well, Touya thought coldly. You will be the one, then, to die for hurting my Hiei.

And when he smiled, the look in his eyes was not altogether sane.


There you go, a very short (but longer than the first) chapter for your reading pleasure.

Thanks to my reviewers (all two of you!):
Dragon Tamer103088
jai

And for the rest of you...review, dammit! Review NOW!