Chapter two
Small Talk Between Birds
Hiei was chained to the unworldly creature at his side, and was shoved towards the front of the line. He held back a growl, but didn't hesitate to send death glares to all the guards.
It wasn't the first time that he had heard a crowd roaring and screaming for death, and it all seemed too good to be true. Now he could kill without a second thought of being sent to prison in the spirit world.
A smirk crossed his features as the doors opened from the outside.
Nadia ducked as a malice came swinging at her head. As the demon at her side ran out into the arena, she followed him without hesitation. Plus, they were chained together.
Kurama watched his fellow team mates from the stands, wishing that they didn't have to do this. So far, he hadn't noticed any humans in the arena or in the slave quarters.
So, where were they?
He averted his eyes to his left and stared at the elderly slave owner beside him. The one who supposedly had humans at his disposal. The aging demon had gray hair and bushy eyebrows. His right arm sleeve was pinned to his shoulder, since half his arm was missing.
He sure didn't seem like much. But appearances can be misleading.
Kurama turned away from him and looked back towards the match.
Nadia and Hiei had been driven back, forcing them to fight back to back. Things would have been so much easier if they weren't chained together, and if there weren't three times as many enemies in the arena with them.
Yusuke and another demon had also been put into the arena, but other than that, the other ones were dead, and Kuwabara was nowhere to be seen.
The sword went through the fox demon's stomach, and came out on the other side. The fox fell to his knees, where the fire youkai finished him off by taking off his head.
Hiei lost his balance as he was violently pulled back by his left hand, where a metal manacle dug into his wrist. He went flying back, as well as Nadia. They landed in the soft sand a few feet away.
He looked up as the monstrous demon towered over them with a large sword that was twice the size of Kuwabara. The sword came down, and Hiei kicked the girl to the side as he rolled in the other direction.
The chain clashed with the sword, which met no resistance as the chain broke. Hiei blurred away and reappeared behind the youkai's head. The short sword slashed through his thick neck as Hiei cut through it.
Nadia looked up just as the demon's head rolled onto the ground and stopped at her feet. It was twice the size of her, and his eyes were still blinking.
She turned away.
When she stood up, she saw the black clad demon staring at her. She knew he was the same one she had seen in the woods the other day, but she still couldn't believe that he was really there, right in front of her eyes. It all seemed more like a dream. One of those torturous dreams.
He turned away from her and looked out onto the field, that had only two other people standing on it. And one of them was seriously hurt.
The prisoner came closer to Hiei and her, one holding onto the other as he limped. It was Yusuke and Akashi.
"Akashi." The girl whispered quietly. Hiei was the only one that heard her.
"He needs help." Yusuke said.
Nadia grew a grim look on her face.
"Where do I take him?"
Hiei just stood there as Nadia continued to stare at them both, more so at Akashi.
"They won't help him." She said in a small, but clear voice.
"What?"
The gates close by opened again, and a few guards came out and re-chained Hiei and Nadia, not even glancing at the wounded demon. Nadia stared at nothing the entire time they were led back to their quarters, and placed back into their cells, where her and Hiei were finally unchained from each other.
Kurama watched all of this before getting up and going to his room.
Akashi was placed into his cell, with no one to help him clean his wound or anything. They were just going to let him die.
Nadia sat down in the corner and stared at him through the bars. She watched as his chest rose and fell with every breath. She was going to watch him die.
That's all she could do.
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Nadia had stayed in the same place for over three hours, just staring at the demon on the other side of the black bars. His chest barely moved now, and she could see him struggling to keep his eyes opened.
The man with long red hair walked along the sand in an unhurried manner, his hands holding something in between them. No one stopped him as he made his way towards the cells, seeing as all the guards were busy getting drunk off their asses.
The first thing he saw were a pair of glowing red eyes and then the outline of the deadly creature before him. The black, rusty bars the only thing in between them.
"Took you long enough, fox."
"Be nice, Hiei."
Kurama moved from in front of his cell to the one next to it. He slipped a seed into the key hole and waited as it grew and broke the lock.(sounds gay, get over it!)
He slipped into the dark cell and dropped to his knees beside the bleeding demon.
Nadia hadn't stood up or moved during the whole process, even when Kurama placed some kind of plant over his wound, and then wrapped it. She just watched him quietly.
When he got up to leave, she stood up and walked towards the bars, where Hiei stood. Kurama stood in front of her as she looked up at him.
"Thank you."
A smile lit up the fox's face.
"You're welcome."
Hiei went back to one of the corners in the cell and leaned against it, his arms crossed over his chest.
Nadia had moved back into her normal spot, but her eyes didn't close. They were kept on Akashi the entire time.
Neither slept that night.
XXXXX
"You know, I never get tired of doing this." The guard yelled as he cracked the whip down onto the scarred flesh.
Blood dripped down the girl's lips as she bit down on her lip, trying to hold back the screams. It was working so far. Soon, they would give up. They always did, she thought.
XXXXX
Two hours later, and she was thrown back into her cell, sporting new cuts and soon to be scars. At first, she didn't move. She just lay there on her stomach, staring at the wall to the right.
She sighed in her mind, seeing as how she was going to have to compete tomorrow. If she was a full bloodied demon, than she could have been almost completely healed by the next day. But no, she had to wait three days before everything was completely closed up.
She tried to sit up, but laid back down quickly as her shirt fell below her shoulders.
'Shit! Now what am I going to do? Just lie here until the guards pick me up? Hell no!'
As she tried to come up with a plan, she completely forgot about the other person in the cell. One that was currently going through her thoughts.
He found her plans amusing in the least, until she went over the whole problem in her head. The whole reason she had been whipped.
/"Shall I help you?"
Nadia turned around and looked up at the guard that had whispered in her ear a few days ago before she had been whipped.
She hid her naked body behind the torn cloak they were using as a curtain for the showers. They were outside, surrounded by other guards and slaves. All of which who wouldn't help her.
She said nothing as he walked towards her and tried to pull her out from behind the curtain. She struggled with him, tearing down the curtain in the process, and wrapping it around her body. Before he could lay a hand on her she grabbed his knife and cut him across the face. He screamed. She ran past him and grabbed her clothes before he could try and have his way with her.
She ran as she put her clothes back on. Just as she was about to round a corner and be free of the damn place, a group of guards surrounded her. She was trapped./
So, that's how it had happened, and she had kept her dignity throughout the whole process. The only reason she had been given that punishment, besides for the made up one about her trying to run away.
She had only been trying to get away from a man that wished to take her against her will. Her only crime.
Before she could come up with some kind of plan, she felt a warm garment fall over her back. She could see part of the black cloth hanging over her shoulder, and she didn't hesitate to wrap it around her fully.( i know, it's kind of out of character, but whatever) Even though her back stung and protested weakly.
She stood up and stared at Hiei, his eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest. He was always in that position, or sitting down with his arms crossed over his chest!
"Thank you." She said hesitatingly.
Since when was he nice?
"Hn."
Nadia sighed out loud this time, not worrying about her dark little friend in the corner. For he didn't say anything anyway, nor did Akashi, since he was at the training ring at the moment.
She turned around and walked towards the wall that she always leaned on. Except for times like now, when she just sat against it slightly, trying to keep her back off of it as much as possible.
So, she sat with her butt against the wall, and her upper body leaning over her drawn up legs. Her dark brown hair fell out of it's bun and onto her shoulders.
She swore to herself.
"How did you get here?" She asked him curiously, as she tried to put her hair back up.
She hardly ever spoke, because she found no one of interest here, besides Akashi. But he rarely talked to her as well, only when she got in trouble. So, she really only talked when she wanted to, which wasn't very often. But now she felt herself compelled to talk to this stranger that crossed paths with her life.
"Hn."
"The silent type, huh?"
He opened one eye and peered at her through it before closing it again.
"Unlike you." He retorted.
She didn't find that offensive in the least, since she knew it wasn't true. She had been her half her life, and she never talked. Until Akashi came in. He had somehow dug a hole in her heart and lodged himself in there, even though she wouldn't let other people see that. She cared for him, but tried not to show it, afraid of the effects it might have. She didn't want to lose anyone else that she cared for.
But this guy was different. She noticed it the first time she had seen him, the reason she had stared at him so noticeably. He could take care of himself, that she knew, but he seemed like the type that only cared deeply about maybe two or three things. Like there was no other room in his heart for anything else.
Someone like her.
She didn't care to live, but she wouldn't let herself be defiled by a bunch of greedy bastards. No, she'd rather die at the hands of someone like him. Who wouldn't care, but at the same time respect her or rather himself enough to not do something as low as raping her dead body. Not many here could do that.
"No." Said she, after a good while.
Hiei had opened his eyes and looked at her, as she continued to stare at the sand at her feet. A small smile crossed her lips, one that stayed with her.
'Why is she smiling?'
"Hn."
Her smile only grew.
"I guess I won't get you to talk."
She had stopped trying to get her hair back up after it fell after her third attempt. Instead, she had her hands under his cloak, and trying to do something. Hiei only stared at her as she stood up slowly and walked towards him. Her hands pulled off the cloak and handed it back to him.
"Thanks, again."
She had turned her shirt around so that the cut in the middle was now showing her stomach. She had tied the loose strips of it at the top so her breasts wouldn't be exposed, but her navel was exposed slightly.
He just nodded his head as he looked away from her briefly, as she returned to her spot on the wall.
After her smile had faded, she nodded off to sleep, his gaze on her the whole time.
He just didn't understand her. At all.
She was beaten almost daily, nearly raped, and a slave, yet she smiled as if she had never experienced these things. He was told that she was quiet and strong, yet he saw her as somewhat talkative and weak.
The only thing strong about her was her will. But how could that be, when she was worn and torn every day from fighting, beatings, and loneliness? She was just an interesting creature, unimaginable at times.
But then again, he was too at times.
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So, tell me what you think. OK, love you guys and thanks for the reviews I received last time.
Love,
robin
