"Dear faithful readers, I apologize for the delay of our posting of new chapters, and promise that we will do our best to make it worthwhile. Also, many thanks for all the awesome reviews, please keep sending them, they keep us going. I hope you've been enjoying the story so far...and hope you'll enjoy the chaps yet to come...Well, so long for now! -Mirae"

DISCLAIMER: We don't own Yu Yu Hakusho. Never did. Never Will. 'Nuff said.

Chapter 10. The First Encounter

Kurama paced nervously. The demon was due back any minute. Hiei, Shadow, and Mirae were hiding somewhere. There was a lot ridding on this. If it failed, he didn't want to think about the consequences. He shook his head. He couldn't think about it. For his mother's sake, he couldn't. It was then that he felt the demons presence. The cloaked demon appeared in a swirl of light blue smoke and wind. He had a large build, and quite possibly a tail. But he hid it well. He was also quite tall.
"Ah, your here."
"Actually I never left." Answered Kurama as he approached the demon.
"Humph." the demon replied as he reached a clawed hand in to his cote and pulled out a scroll.
"This scroll contains the location of the Forbidden Mirror. It turns out it's still in it's original hiding place. Mainly because all who have tried to get it have died.. But, for a legendary thief like yourself, it should be no problem." The demon held out the scroll to Kurama, who after looking the demon in the eyes for a moment, reached out to take it.
"Raaaaaaaaaaaa!" screamed the demon as a sharp blade made it's way into his back.
"Hiei!" Kurama cried out, sounding quite surprised to see him. He was playing his role perfectly.
Then Shadow came out of her hiding place charging her newly learned spell. Mirae followed, charging her spell as well.
Hiei pulled his sword free from the demons back and in the blink of an eye, he stood next to Kurama. His eyes never leaving his opponent.
"Hiei what are you doing here?" Kurama asked.
Hiei spared Kurama a glance as Shadow and Mirae both launched their attacks trapping the demon, the acid working quickly.
"I was looking for you. When I saw that the-"
"Raaaaoooor!"
Hiei never got to finish. He was cut off by the beast's angry roar and a sudden increase in it's power. A shock wave was released and the acid particles were scattered. The wave was also so powerful that the group was knocked off their feet and thrown back. After hitting the ground hard, the group also felt the nasty stings of the acid mist that once held the demon. They looked up to see the demon now standing, feather wings spread. His eyes glowing a bright red. His cloak which once hid him was now nothing but shreds. Air parts still remained on his shoulders. With the cloak no longer hiding his appearance, they could see he was that of a griffin. His fur and feathers where colored in an array of golden Yellow to shades of tans and browns.
Hiei, shadow, Mirae and Kurama were all slightly grazed and burned from the fall and the acid. But that certainly didn't dampen Hiei's spirits. He just snarled and then charged at the griffin, his sword posed forward, ready to thrust through the griffin's heart and kill it for good. Hiei was moving at increasable speed. The griffin didn't so much as move. He just kept his eyes locked on Hiei. Hiei suddenly stopped dead, right in the air. Try as he might, he found he couldn't move. His sword was inches away from the monsters heart. Then Hiei was thrown back by the same unseen force that had held him in place. He went through several trees.
Mirae and Shadow, both made a mental note that charging this beast would not be the best way to go. They both got to their feet, and prepared to cast a spell. Shadow was charging a fire spell, while Mirae was charging Blue Inferno. But the Griffin turned face to them and they where thrown back to with the unseen push. The griffin then approached Kurama and dropped the scroll at his feet.
"Can't say I blame you for trying. No, your mother will not die for this. She will merely, be punished. But try anything like this again, and she will die. You have twelve hours to bring me the artifact." With that, he turned his back on a horrified Kurama, and vanished in a swirl of Wind and black smoke.
Shadow sat up, and saw Mirae was already on her feet. A few feet away, Hiei was getting up as well, holding his hand to his head, groaning a bit. Suggesting he hit his head harder than she thought. Shadow sighed. They had just gotten beaten, easily. She so concerned on the matter, that she didn't realize the expression of pained realization on Mirae's face.
"Things aren't going well is it?" said Shadow, in a very disappointed sort of way.
"Well, it just go a lot worse." Said a new voice from behind.
When Shadow turned around to invest age, she was grabbed by her shirt collar and was now looking in to a pair of very angry mocha brown eyes.

ShadowFox777: There you go, a new chapie. Alright you know the drill, 5 reviews gets an update in two days time at the latest bla bla bla. More review, faster updates. Ok see you next chapter. I hope you enjoyed.