Kitsune: Hello! Here we are with the long awaited third chapter. So...
Kurama: Chibi, have you seen my shirt?
Kitsune: Maybe Yusuke took it again... But, I'll look, you do the disclaimer...
Disclaimer: Chibi does not own Yu Yu Hakusho, but does own Chibi, Kela, the missing bat demon, and the Phoenix Artifacts... Along with the Wolf's Silver Fang and Fox's Moonlight Bracelet.
Kitsune: Found it!

Phoenix Resurrection

Chapter 3

:Past Grudges:

"How could you lose them!" The toddler of Spirit World exclaimed in surprise and anger.

"Did you not see me limping! That chick fights dirty!" Yusuke yelled back, thanking any god that heard for the chair.

"I do believe we underestimated the pair exponentially. The smaller one did manage to slip through our grasp as well." Kurama said calmly from where he leaned against the wall, arms crossed and a foot propped against his support.

"Hn. I should have killed her when I had the chance." the now grouchy fire demon said from his perch on the windowsill, looking at them through the window's reflection. Kuwabara had overall gotten the worst of the fight, on their side anyways, and currently was having splinters pulled from his back in the hospital wing. Koenma listened in interest now as each admitted their loss in their own way. He realized how much research was needed now before the next approach. Something more immediately noticeable was how quiet the fox was being currently.

"What's on your mind Kurama?" the Prince asked, trying to suppress his interest. The redhead looked up, seemingly brought back to reality by the mention of his name.

"Youko claims that he has dealt with the two before when they succeeded in stealing from him."

"No kidding?" Yusuke was now interested as he turned in his chair to look at his teammate. Hiei also looked over, wanting to hear this tale as well. The halfling sighed gently before he started.

"It was roughly twenty years ago when everyone in his camp was sleeping. It was approximately half an hour before dawn when he heard someone cursing fluidly outside." He continued on to explain how Youko left his tent to find two females paused near the center of the encampment. Both had flame colored locks, the smaller one having blood shaded eyes, large cat ears and a fox tail. The other had eyes like ice. The taller one gave the impression of being taken many times while the other had excited him since she was pure. At this point in the story, he began to censor it, due to Yusuke's perverted snickers...

"They stole the Wolf's Silver Fang and the Fox's Moonlight Bracelet!" Youko remembered someone saying. That meant someone had taken the latter right from under his nose and that infuriated him. He whispered for the others to try and get the items back, but to bring them both alive as well. The Silver Fang was a powerful dagger that promoted the abilities of the wolf and the fox watched as the taller passed the weapon to the girl, who seemed to vanish before the wolf took an offensive stance and he gestured his hand for some demons to move in.

"You do know your invading on the King of Thieves' territory?" he had asked her, arms crossed in their usual way.

"Hn. Do you know who your dealing with? Aniue Castiro of the North." she had told him, venom dripping from her words.

"Deal with her, I'll find the younger one." he had said to his men before rushing off. She had made to go after him, but those that had gathered kept that from happening.

He followed the mixed breed into the surrounding forest, tracking her scent, drawing a seed from his long hair and letting it sprout into a whip with twice the number that adorned Kurama's weapon. A solid wall of air shot out at him from the trees and he dodged, flicking his wrist and sending it toward the girl. He heard a yelp of pain, along with the sound of material ripping, the smell of fresh fallen blood meeting his nose. A furious growl came from her as she then leapt at him, claws extended before she swiped at him. He sidestepped and hit the back of her neck with the side of his hand. She barely avoided running into a nearby tree, holding the back of her neck, doing an about face, eyes narrowed, her other hand resting on the wound on her stomach. The sky was beginning to lighten with the threat of a new day.

"What is the name of the girl I shall claim for myself?" He purred out.

"People call me Chibi, but I will not be yours." she growled, pulling back and leaping onto a branch. She had experience, he had to give her that much credit.

A growl behind him made him turn, shutting his eyes quickly as the sun shone in his eyes, but not before he saw a large white wolf lunge at him. The game of cat and mouse had lasted longer then he had thought and now the mixed breed's friend had come to save her. His hand reacted, nicking the wolf in the shoulder he found when he opened his eyes again, on his back with the animal growling at him with raised hackles.

"Aniue, lets go!" Chibi yelled out, leaves rustling as his prey ran off. The wolf snapped at his ear before doing the same.

Kurama opened his eyes to look at them all. He noticed Hiei's eyebrows were raised and Yusuke was smirking.

"So, the pair both had red hair, the taller one saying she was Aniue of the Northern Lands?" Koenma asked him, having been jotting down notes the whole time.

"Correct." He nodded to him.

"Fox, what is the significance of the Crystal Lotus?" Hiei questioned suddenly, going back to looking out the window.

"Crystal Lotus?" Koenma's eyes widened. In response, Kurama dug into his pants pocket and pulled it out. The Spirit Prince's eyes widened more so when he saw it. It had been years since he had seen something like this.

"Its... its... its a Makai Flora Crystal!" he exclaimed, nearly falling from his chair, though he did begin sucking rapidly on his pacifier.

"Is that a bad thing?" Yusuke asked as Kurama set the gem down on his desk before going back to leaning against the wall.

"Its one of the rarest stones in existance! Very few demons know how to make them! It requires two weeks of concentration, a whole lot of Youki, and a lasting love. The demon also needs to know the exact shade of his lover's energy for it to work." he explained to the trio.

"Extremely valuable in that regard, its a symbol for extremely devoted demons that are too young to mate." Kurama further explained.

"So that means one of the girls had herself a man?" He frowned. "So why bother getting stronger?"

"It came from the little one, Chibi, so it was given to her some time ago. The fact she has no mating mark indicates something happened to the male." Kurama patiently said to the detective. "In that, she may have turned to something that does not allow room for remorse or other such emotions."

"English please?"

"The runt got the crystal a long time ago. Something happened to the male who gave it to her, so she's turned to something else to keep her mind focused on." Hiei simplified.

"Oh... so, do we go after the two?"

"Hopefully soon. The death plant I placed should be blooming shortly." the fox looked at them again.

"How do we find them?" No one said anything in response to the actual Detective's question immediately.

"Kurama, can't you track your plants by their energy?" Koenma asked, though his gaze rested on the stone.

"Yes, I can. Though, isn't there energy stored in the Flora Crystal from the one that holds it?"

"Correct."

"Why not let us track the small girl then? If we find her, then..."

"Then we find that bitch, Aniue!" Yusuke finished excitedly. Kurama smiled softly, nodding in confirmation.

"Well, that is true and the sooner we get those items back..." He never finished because alarms began to blare and an ogre burst into the room shortly after.

"Lord Koenma! Getting those items back is gonna have to wait Sir!" he panted.

"What happened now!"

"Its... its Red Shadow Kela sir! Kela's broken out of spirit prison!"

Yusuke and the ogre were the only ones that didn't tense up. Yusuke had not heard of this Red Shadow was and the ogre was trying to catch his breath. Kurama and Hiei looked at each other in slight worry while Koenma's already rapid sucking became faster still.

"But how! Red Shadow was under maximum security! How did it happen!"

"Most... most likely... combined... abilities..."

"Yusuke. The thieves are second priority now! You guys need to track down Red Shadow before..." He was cut off once more as footage showed up on the screen that slid down. A red shadow flitting through the trees outside the King's Vault. All who got in the way were struck down by fierce, razor sharp claws.

The heavy doors were thrown open in a blast of wind before the figure reached them. Shouts and yells were heard before the figure shot back out, an intricately carved katana on the back now.

"Wah!" Koenma wailed. Actually falling from his chair this time. "Go get that thief! She just stole the Phoenix Blade!"