Hello all, I told you I'm not dead. This is the repost of this new chappie to make it a little easier to understand, the next chapter will be up soon, expect with the week, it's mostly done. Thankss again for reading, I don't own it, enjoy

xxxxx

Everyone stood at the edge of the forest, looking into the mass of green. Koenma stepped just into the undergrowth and the forest seemed to swallow him, making him hardly visible through just three feet of vegetation. "Well, if we want to do anything at all, we have to find this guy, preferably before the meeting in three days. That means we have to search this forest. He's almost certain to be watching us, too, so he might use this time to attack or something. So, we'll split into three groups and search the forest. Stay with your group, we can't be too careful."

Heero nodded, muttering a sharp affirmative. He started immediately into the forest, Kuwabara and Yukina following quickly. Koenma motioned to Trowa and Yuusuke to follow him as he started off. WuFei paused, looking at Hiei and their respective lovers. "Maybe I should go with one of the others."

Duo frowned. "Nonsense! You'd never be able to catch up with them and I won't let you anyway." The four started walking and Hiei placed himself none to subtly between WuFei and the braided pilot. Duo just frowned harder. "Honestly, I don't know what you two have against each other. You're going to have to learn to live with each other if I want to keep up contact with you guys when we go back home."

Kurama frowned slightly. "Yes. When you go home. Well, we'll have to think of something, won't we."

The four walked in silence for a while before Hiei finally let out a sigh. "Koi, do you have any idea where we're going?" Kurama silently shook his head. "Well, can't you just ask the trees, Youko?"

"You know I can only do that with trees I know."

Duo stared. "You can talk to trees?"

"Well, do something, fox. It's not doing any good just getting lost."

Kurama sighed. His form flickered, red hair lightening to silver and growing longer. He stood still, face raised to the wind for a moment. "I smell something that way." Kurama pointed to the north.

Hiei peered through the trees. "There are some ruins that way. Is it human?"

Kurama sniffed the air again. "I'm not sure. But I definitely smell blood."

Hiei nodded and began leading the way towards the ruins. It took nearly an hour to get there, the dense undergrowth threatening to halt them with every step. Finally, the worn stone steps of the ancient temple came into view. There was a thick moss covering them and the first step Duo took sent him onto his behind in the thick slime-like growth.

"Eww! Gross gross gross!" he whined, scrambling onto his feet again.

WuFei sighed, shaking his head as he climbed the steps. "How you ever became a pilot is beyond me." They climbed the large steps, entering the main room of the old temple. It was remarkably well preserved, the forest not encroaching on the large open space. A warm breeze blew through the high windows and blew about the dead leaves that were there. WuFei squinted at the floor suspiciously. "No dust," he muttered.

The four spread out, looking for stairs or doors that would lead to the rest of the temple. Kurama had just taken the first two steps up a long, spiraling stair when he stopped, head whipping around. "Hiei!"

"I sense him." The fire demon's hand was suddenly enveloped in black fire as he readied himself for a possible attack. "Show your face, kisama. I'll put a nice new hole in it."

A soft laugh echoed through the upper part of the temple, bouncing off the vaulted ceiling. "Well, this is a surprise. In all the years since the tournament, all the times I've tried to get back to you, you have never come to me."

Kurama's lips curled in distaste, as if he'd smelled an extremely bad odor. He hurried down the steps and into the center of the room where he had more room and could not be surprised from behind. "What are you doing here, Karasu?"

WuFei's head turned, first towards the fox, then outward to where he thought the voice was coming from. Karasu. That was the demon whose blood ran in Fei's own veins. At least, that's what he'd been able to gather from Hiei's cryptic threats and Kurama's mumbled fears. His mind whirled with the possibilities of meeting and talking with the demon.

The soft laugh echoed again and WuFei reworked the position of the voice. "Honestly, Fox, that is none of your concern. But if you must know, I've made this my home, for now. What, pray tell, are you doing here."

Kurama sighed in irritation. "Several humans were captured. We are looking for one of them. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"And if I offered my help, would you truly accept it?" There was a pause and Karasu's laughter echoed again. "No, your pet there would burn me alive. So, since there is no business here, you should probably be on your way."

Duo turned to Kurama. "Could this guy have Quatre?"

Kurama seemed to think about that for a moment. "It is certainly within his power to do something like this, but it doesn't suit him. There'd be no logic to it."

"But he might be able to help us?"

Kurama frowned, thinking again. "He likely has access to information we don't. But there's no way to know if we can trust him."

There was a shuffling of leaves and the soft sound of footsteps. Karasu stepped from around a pillar on an upper level of the large room. His dark hair fell covering most of his face and mask. His pale hands were raised, palms outward as a sign of peace. Hiei tensed at seeing him, but didn't let loose his ball of fire. He didn't allow it to dissipate either, keeping it ready just in case.

Karasu's eyes sparkled and he leapt lightly to the floor. "So, let me get this straight. You are looking for a cat?"

"Quat-re. Quat-re." Duo pronounced each syllable clearly, reiterating with his hands. "We're looking for Quatre."

"The captured ningen," Hiei clarified.

"Hmm. This does not really answer my question. Just because a human has gone missing is no reason for Koenma's best lap dogs to be out looking for him. Especially with two additional humans." His eyes rested on Duo a moment, then flicked to WuFei and back again.

Protectively, Kurama stepped a few paces in front of Duo, hiding him from view. "That is really none of your concern. Have you seen the boy or not?"

Karasu's eyes sparkled again as he smiled beneath his mask. He began walking forward, slowly, towards Kurama and Duo. "I think, perhaps, this boy was taken because he was special. Related to the tantei somehow. Perhaps even by blood. I think these humans traveling with you are similarly related, that must be why they were permitted to tag along."

Hiei took a warning step forward, putting himself between Karasu and the others. "You seem awfully knowledgeable for someone who has nothing to do with this."

"Quite the contrary, I'm only guessing. But it's easy enough to tell. I can easily enough sense his power," Karasu motioned lazily at WuFei who was stepping closer to Duo – safety in numbers. "And I can tell exactly where that one comes from," he was looking at Duo again, seeming to peer right through Kurama. "He truly is tempting. Almost as much as my lovely youko."

"Kisama!" Hiei hissed between clenched teeth. He struck out with his fist, but found only air where Karasu had been standing. He and Kurama both turned to see the pale demon seem to reappear from thin air right behind Duo, hands gently clasped at the base of his thick braid. Hiei was vaguely surprised to see Karasu frozen with a blade pressed against his throat. He was even more surprised to see it wasn't himself holding the weapon.

Almost casually, Karasu turned his eyes to look at WuFei. Lightning fast, he reached out, twisting the Chinese boy's wrist so that the flat of the blade rested against his throat. WuFei reached out instinctively, grabbing Karasu's arm with his free hand. Karasu responded in kind, grabbing Fei's shirt and hurtling him across the large room to land a good twenty paces or more away.

Hiei charged. Duo charged. Both had their weapons out, each shining with black makai fire. Karasu frowned, dropping back. He had no intention of fighting this lot right now. He would take what he'd come out for and leave. Of course, getting to that prize would require a distraction.

Hiei noticed the subtle gathering of power and almost imperceptible movement of hands. He glanced at Duo, still running full speed to avenge his assaulted lover. Hiei made a quick decision and changed direction, sheathing his sword. "Get down!" He tackled Duo, bringing him to the ground and shielding the boy from the explosion only moments later. Hiei quickly looked up, scanning over to Kurama and hoping his fox had escaped the lunatic demon.

Thankfully, Kurama was all right. The explosion had knocked him off his feet, but there was no serious damage. The fox had a rose in his hands, clearly anticipating the attack that should have followed Karasu's explosion. But the crow was nowhere to be seen. He had not touched Kurama, simply fled.

Hiei hurried over to his fox. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. That was certainly a fancy cover just for an escape, though." Kurama got to his feet and dusted himself off. "I suppose I got off lucky this time. Usually our meetings end much worse than this."

"Where'd he go?" Duo's voice echoed over to the couple. It was tight with fear, strangled. "Where'd that bastard go! Fei! FEI!" Kurama looked around in shock. Sure enough, the Chinese pilot was nowhere to be seen. Duo continued to scream his love's name, running frantically to the door of the huge building.

Silently, Hiei cursed his own stupidity. Of course he'd assumed Karasu would try to go after Kurama, that's what the psycho always did. And that was exactly what Karasu had wanted them to think he'd do again. Their misassumptions had cost them WuFei's freedom. Hiei just hoped it didn't cost the boy's life.

xxxxx

Quatre lay curled on his side when he woke next. He was careful to keep his eyes shut, falling back on training to keep him safe. Mentally he took stock of his wounds and realized it had been more than a day since he was awake last.

He fought back a whimper. Another day gone and still no sign of the others. They were coming for him, weren't they? Even if his time estimate was off, and in this world it easily could be, it had still been quite some time.

"Quatre?" Quatre almost jumped at the voice. The door squeaked open and then shut with a click as Terri entered. "Are you awake? I brought some food." Quatre slowly opened his eyes and rolled to look at her, stiff and sore limbs hindering him. The girl smiled and kneeled before him with a small platter piled with food. "I smuggled it out for you."

Quatre snatched away the small rolls and over ripe fruit immediately. Terri waited patiently until the platter was empty before handing him a large goblet of water. Quatre drank more slowly, embarrassed. "How long have I been here?"

"Nearly five days. You must have been very hungry." Quatre nodded, face falling again. Five days . . . "If he knew I'd brought you food – but much longer and you wouldn't even have strength to move. How are you feeling?"

Quatre did not answer, and that was answer enough. Terri wrapped him in a hug, her gentle healing flowing over his skin, working away his hurt. Quatre leaned into her touch. "Thank you." He could feel his eyes slipping shut again and didn't bother to fight it. In blissful oblivion, he knew he could escape.

His dreams were strange. He was back in the war, but it wasn't OZ he was fighting. Wing and Shenlong floated before him. He could hear Duo cackling from somewhere, but couldn't see Deathscythe. Unable to move, Quatre watched as Shenlong prepared to attack. Suddenly Heavy Arms was there, shielding Sandrock. Quatre watched as Heero turned on Shenlong, going right through its defenses. Heavy Arms turned and Quatre and could see through the armor to Trowa's frowning face. "Don't worry, I'll be there soon." Quatre struggled to move, but could do nothing as an explosion overcame the other gundam.

In the real world, Quatre groaned slightly and leaned further into Terri. She smiled and laughed before lifting his head and laying him fully on the ground. "My, but you have interesting dreams, little one. I can't wait to meet your friends."

xxxxx

Heero was starting to get annoyed at the forest. It was getting so bad that he was cursing the plants aloud. He grabbed the next branch and ripped it away, completely severing it from its tree by pure brute force. Yuusuke, while less violent about it, was getting just as tired of the lush vegetation. He was carving a trail through the forest and the sheer duration of the trek was weakening him severely.

Koenma was no help at all, following the two boys and occasionally demanding a direction change. Suddenly the god stopped, whipping in a quick circle. "Yuusuke!"

The boy whipped around, looking for something Heero couldn't see. "Who the heck is that? Just some demon?"

Heero closed his eyes and focused. Almost immediately a faint ki signature came into view and Heero smiled grimly. It used to take much longer to register the proximity of a demon; a few days of hard training had done wonders. He followed the ki, easily predicting the demon's moves and dodged in plenty of time to avoid a large sticky goo ball. Similar attacks sped at the others, clipping Yuusuke's shoulder and hitting Koenma head on. The god screamed and started to panic as the goo held him, glue-like, to the spot.

"Stupid humans, hold still!"

Heero circled in front of Yuusuke, eyes still tightly shut. "You're tired, stay behind me."

"I can take care of myself, don't baby me, kid."

Heero dropped into a fighting stance the same moment as Yuusuke, both humans sensing the demon come to a stop. Yuusuke blinked, hesitating as a young girl with messy brown hair stepped from the trees. Heero, however, didn't weaken his stance, glaring death at her as he opened his eyes at last. The girl frowned, "I don't recognize you." She suddenly broke into a smile. "You must be the one I missed! Urameshi's spawn."

Heero fought with himself not to charge the girl. "Who are you? What have you done with Quatre!"

"Yes, about that. I seem to recall setting our meeting for three days from now. You would do well to heed my instructions from this day forth."

"That's not good enough!" Yuusuke screamed, running towards the girl. From behind them, Koenma yelled at the boy to stop, but he was already committed to the attack. The girl leapt back, shooting shards of ice from her hands. Yuusuke stumbled, staring at her in shock. "What was that?" he stuttered, incredulous.

Heero stepped forward to fight, but the girl backed off. "No way, I'm not ready to fight you yet. Keep to my instructions, and I'll keep the boy alive. See you soon." With that, she was gone.

Immediately, Yuusuke ran to Koenma, grabbing his shoulders and inadvertently getting caught in the glue himself. "What the heck was that? That was a Koorime attack, but she didn't look like any ice demoness I've ever seen!"

Koenma growled, fighting to free himself. "That's because she was no Koorime. I'm pretty sure that was a mimicking demon. A shape shifter with the ability to copy a person's looks, their abilities, even their ki sense. If that's where Quatre is, I think I know why he was taken – why you were all targeted. Help me get out of this stuff! We have to find the others and regroup.