Prisoner of War
Part Eleven: Find
Italics indicates dream/memory sequence
Dirt crunched beneath Mukuro's feet as she ambled her way through the woods. The guards had missed something—that's what she was counting on, at least. They couldn't find Hiei or the human because they didn't know how to properly search.
But Mukuro could find them.
Mukuro could find anything.
"Damn it," she hissed, coming to a stop in a clearing. This wasn't quite as easy as she had thought it would be.
Damn fire yokai.
The tyrant massaged her temples roughly, trying to think of where Hiei might have gone. Nothing in his demeanor before he left gave any clues.
A thought entered Mukuro's head: perhaps… perhaps Hiei had said where he was going before he even knew that he was going to leave.
That thought gave her the answer.
She had known where he would go since she first met him.
He was covered in blood when she first saw him—barely distinguishable from the dead and dying bodies at his feet.
But it wasn't the smell of blood that had led her to him. It was another scent.
A scent of despair.
Humans and demons alike were covering the ground in the clearing, dying the grass brown with blood.
He was the only one left alive in the clearing, standing amid the bodies.
The scent came from him.
Carefully, she approached him. "Quite a mess here, isn't it?"
The other yokai didn't answer.
"Which side of this fight were you on?"
A slight pause met her question. The other yokai turned to meet her eyes. His crimson eyes were narrowed in distrust.
She laughed. "I'm not going to attack you. I'm just curious as to what happened here."
Distrust still apparent on his face, he answered. "The humans were being attacked. They wanted to try to save them."
"They? Your friends?
"Allies. They used to be."
"Are they among the dead?"
"No."
"No? Then why are they no longer your allies?"
He didn't answer but turned back to the battlefield, clenching his fists.
She frowned. "The humans did something?"
For a moment he was silent. "They killed her," he said finally.
"Her?"
"My sister. She wasn't even involved."
She nodded knowingly. "The fatal flaw with most humans," she said, walking over to him, "is that they're too stupid and suspicious for their own good. Is that why you killed them?"
He nodded.
"And I suppose your allies didn't care much for that."
Another nod.
"They left you."
"They thought I'd died."
"I see. Are you going after them?"
"… I don't know…."
"Well, if you decide not to, let me know. I'm sure I've got a place for you."
"Who are you?"
She smirked. "Mukuro. Nice to meet you. What was your name?"
He narrowed his eyes in distrust but gave her a true answer nonetheless.
"Hiei."
A smirk creased Mukuro's face. Hiei's old allies… a kitsune, a hanyou and a human, from what she had gotten from him, who ran a safe house for humans. He always claimed not to know where they went; she had assumed that was untrue but didn't push the matter: he was on her side and that was all she needed then.
Still smiling in grim triumph, Mukuro called to her guards; three of them approached her, bowing timidly.
"Gather some information for me," she said, not bothering with preamble. "Go through all we have on safe houses. I think we'll find what we're looking for there."
The guards bowed to her again, and left to do as they had been commanded.
Mukuro, however, didn't go with them, but made her way deeper into the woods to an old battlefield that she had seen long ago.
Why had he come here?
He hated it here.
Sighing, Hiei ran a hand absently through his hair.
She'd expect him to come here. That was the intention.
But why the hell did he have to pick a place that he loathed in every possible way?
It didn't matter now. Mukuro would find him here, and it'd be over. Kurama, Yusuke and Kuwabara would be out of the fire and he'd no longer be a danger to them.
And he could see his sister again.
Maybe dying wouldn't be so bad.
A snapping sound to his left pulled the yokai back into reality. His hand went immediately to the katana at his side and his muscles tensed. Until he heard the muttering.
"Damn woods, this is why it took me so long to find the house."
Calai tumbled into the clearing, muttering every swear known to man and yokai alike under her breath.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Hiei demanded.
"Um… following you," Calai said, walking up to him.
"Leave," he said bluntly.
Calai blinked. "Excuse me?"
"I said leave. Go back to the house if you want. Just leave."
"I'm not leaving. You think I'm gonna let you commit suicide?"
"Yes."
"God, you're stubborn," Calai sighed. "Why—"
The yokai covered her mouth with his hand, telling her to be quiet in a less than subtle way.
A flash of scorching light shot past the two of them burning a tree to the ground beside them. Hiei moved his hand and unsheathed his katana.
One of Mukuro's guards stepped into the clearing, prepared to kill both Hiei and the human girl.
Clearly, he was not prepared enough: in less than a second, the guard was skewered on the tip of Hiei's sword. Hiei shook the body off the sword and sheathed it again, looking back at Calai.
She glared at him. "I'm still not leaving. Not until you tell me why you let me live."
The yokai stared at her for a moment before answering. "I couldn't tell you."
"What do you mean?"
"I… I don't know why."
Calai tilted her head to one side.
Hiei was spared further questioning by what he felt next.
"Mukuro," he breathed.
"What about her?" Calai said.
"She's here. You need to leave."
"But—"
"Leave. Now."
Calai hesitated for the slightest of moments. "Be careful," she whispered, slowly backing out of the clearing.
The girl had no sooner disappeared from the clearing when Mukuro stepped out of the shadows, a dark expression on her face.
"Hiei," she said coldly. "I see you've decided to switch allegiance."
End Part Eleven
