A/N: I updated and we're still alive?! Yeah, I was really slow on this story because no one reviews and not many people care about it. However, in the name of my fans and the readers who do care, I present you with the third instalment.

Black Water-Fox -- (Hugs and passes the tissues) It shall get sadder yet!

shiorifoxiesmom --Why, thank you. I usually come up with good ideas and then struggle to finish them. ARRGH! It's a curse, but a good one to have. I hope I keep up with your expectations!

sil-kurama -- Yes, Hiei will be definitely doing a lot of killing by then end of the story. I personally like it that way! This chapter will have a tiny bit of HxK near the end. And something will happen to Yukina that is less than pleasant, but you'll have to wait to know what!

THANK YOU for the reviews, it makes writing worth every word.

"Speech"

-thoughts.-

Chapter III

New Experiences

Kurama emerged from the temple, sharp eyes spotting his companions. The group of spirit detectives had moved efficiently, their pace carrying them far up the looping path. He could see the black fabric of Hiei's cloak and mentally sighed.

-Your speed is impeccable when you don't want to be caught.-

Kurama broke out into a sprint to make up for his straggling. As short time later he met up with the group and Yusuke was the first to acknowledge his arrival.

"Hey, Kurama, where've you been?" Yusuke inquired.

"I just had to check on something." He said convincingly.

Yusuke could perceive that Kurama was trying to hide something. He thought about pushing the subject further but dismissed it

-Kurama's just as cunning in battle as he is with words. He'll probably find away around my questions anyways.-

Yusuke shrugged and accepted the awkward silence that followed.

As Genkai led them past the garden, and through the frozen trees, and to the last set of Yukina's disheveled foot prints everyone fell deathly quiet. No one dared to speak, their minds too preoccupied about what happened to the healer girl.

Kurama watched as Hiei fell back, lagging behind with him and Yusuke. He gave the fox-spirit a cold glare. The fire demon was communicating without words, telling Kurama not to try anymore stunts like back in the temple.

Genkai stopped, the rest of the team falling in behind her.

"I've traced Yukina's tracks up to this point," Genkai said looking at the boys wearily, "everything else is up to you to figure out."

"Well this isn't exactly much to go on." Kurama said apprehensively. He kneeled down and ghosted his finger over the giant imprint.

Hiei wandered off on his own, scouting around the perimeter.

Yusuke spoke up rather seriously, "Let me get this straight, Yukina wandered in demon territory for some flower and then got attacked?"

Yusuke was sure his teammates had their own simulation of what morbid floundering took place, as did he, but he just wanted to sort everything out.

"Yes," Genkai answered. She looked back towards the temple, "Now if you excuse me I must be getting back. Don't think ill of me, I would want nothing more than to spend my dying days helping you out of this situation, but under the current circumstances I must decline. You all understand. Good luck boys. Try and bring her back safely instead of a rotting corpse okay?"

Genkai's small form disappeared into the flurries of snow.

"Everything just vanishes!" Kuwabara thought aloud, "How are we supposed to figure out where they took Yukina!"

He cared deeply for the girl, wanted to protect her with all his might, and yet he was helpless when faced with a puzzle as massive as Yukina's disappearance. Kuwabara just didn't have the mind power and it frustrated him to no end.

"Morons." Hiei chided rudely, appearing out of thin air, "Can't you see it's an illusion?"

Everyone stared at Hiei with an aggravated expression.

Kuwabara growled in anger, ready for a fist fight, "What's and illusion? I don't see anything! Start talking some sense!"

Hiei laughed menacingly. "The whole environment is an illusion. I guess those cowards who took Yukina think they can hide themselves behind a cheap trick."

"What?" Kuwabara asked. His head couldn't comprehend the explanation Hiei just gave him. The carrot top was all brawn and no brains . . . well maybe he didn't have the brawn either . . .

"Watch and learn." Hiei instructed.

The fire demon pulled the cloth ward down and revealed the deep incision across his forehead. His mutated skin rippled as the evil eye awakened. His physical eyes closed in deep concentration as the evil eye went to work. The environment around them became wavy like a deceiving mirage. With a final pulse of psychic energy, the illusion barrier lifted.

The true scenery was rather dull, but barren like the last wintry land. Rocks paved the ground and a large cave behind them was the grand center piece.

Everyone looked around in bewilderment. They all seemed so fascinated, like a bug to a light.

With a smug grin on his face Yusuke walked up to the Kuwabara and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. Kuwabara eyed him as Yusuke pulled him closer to whisper in his ear.

"Hey, Kuwabara aren't you glad we brought Hiei along?" Yusuke teased.

"Shut up! We could have figured it out!" Kuwabara knocked the raven-haired boys hand away and stomped off.

"Riiiiiiiiight." Yusuke elongated the word, incredulously.

"Are you humans just going to dottle all day?" Hiei coached from the entrance of the cave. Kurama was next to him. "Hurry up or I'll spare our enemy the hassle of killing you."

"Hey, wait up!" Yusuke yelled, slightly irritated.

A few steps inside the cave and the spirit detectives were guzzled by the darkness.

"I can't see a damn thing!" Kuwabara whined, opening and closing his eyes, hoping to miraculously obtain night vision by doing so.

"Kurama could you give us some light?" Yusuke asked politely, hoping to shut his loudmouth friend up.

Kurama nodded, "Sure."

Kurama reached into his hair satchel. He flicked his fingers, flipping his choice seed into the dirt. The seed sprouted legs and dug into the ground like muscles at the beach. The bug tunneled beneath the surface, creating an incandescent moss to light a path through the cave.

"Be on your guard." Yusuke warned the group.

"Feh!" Hiei scoffed, "Tell that to the numbskull back there."

"Wha'd you say punk!" Kuwabara turned toward Hiei, boiling mad. Kuwabara Kazuma was not in the mood!

Without even turning around Hiei answered, "I said you're a pompous imbecile who has done nothing but fall on his face and trip on his own two legs."

"That's it! I am taking you out Hiei!" Kuwabara charged at him, fist pulled back and ready to connect with Hiei's jaw.

Kurama blocked Kuwabara's attack with his body.

Kuwabara drug his feet into the cave floor to try and stop himself from tackling the plant master.

"Kurama?" Kuwabara asked confusedly, but then turned angry once more, "Grrrrrrr, get out of my way! I have to teach the bastard a lesson!"

Hiei just walked off, trailing behind Yusuke who decided to leave them be.

"Listen Kuwabara, there's a lot you don't know. Believe it or not Hiei's just as concerned about Yukina as you are. So for Yukina sake, try and tolerate him for now." Kurama negotiated pleadingly.

Kuwabara growled and shook his fist in acquiescence, "Fine! I'll waste his ass later!"

Kurama smiled in agreement with his decision.

The two stragglers caught up with the group and journeyed onward. They had encountered nothing out of the ordinary thus far, rocks, stalagmites, stalactites; the stuff you usually find in a cave. . .

As they progressed further into the winding passageway, a fork in the road forced them to stop.

Yusuke took charge, "We'll ladies this is where we part ways. Kuwabara and I will take right. Kurama, Hiei, I'll catch up with you two later."

The brown-eyed sprit detective turned towards the disgruntled teenager next to him, "C'mon you oversided lunk, let's get going."

The team divided and followed their respective tunnels.

Hiei and Kurama traveled in silence, the fire demon distancing himself from the kitsune.

"Hiei can you feel that?" Kurama asked his nerves on edge.

Kurama had sensed the evil aura for quite some time now and still felt the goose bumps prickling his skin.

"Hn. Ever since we set foot in here." Hiei concurred.

"There are thousands of them. Their spirit energy is making me dizzy. You think that Kuwabara or Yusuke sensed them too?" Kurama added.

"What does it matter?"

-Hiei defiantly knows how to end a conversation.-

"I guess your right."

Kurama had been traveling deep within the narrow, carved-out passageways for awhile now and knew what the contours looked like. However, the cave suddenly changed. It went from typical rocky contours to completely bizarre in a matter of meters.

Gooey sack-like humps that had the uncanny resemblance to frog's eggs sprouted from everywhere. The cave looked more like a giant's throat now that the walls were drenched in what seemed to be mucus.

Kurama being Kurama had the natural tendency to feed his curiosity about the abnormal protrusions.

"I wonder what these are . . ." Kurama asked no one in particular. His hand reached out to carefully inspect/touch the pouch, but Hiei's swift reflexes intervened.

"I wouldn't," Hiei said firmly.

Kurama tuned to look at his companion and tried to explain his actions.

"I was only trying to—"

"—let everyone know we're here." Hiei finished Kurama's sentence.

With a frustrated sigh, Kurama gave in and respected Hiei's warning to look but not touch.

Continuing on, the number of frog egg-like sacks increased. Large stockpiles embellished the floor while more rows lined the walls.

Hiei still denied Kurama the possession of his hand. He was keeping the kitsune's hand safely inside his own, using it as a leash.

"Hey Hiei?"

"Hn?"

"Can I have my hand back now?" Kurama asked sweetly. He would usually use this tone of voice with his mother to wheedle his way out of going on a date with a girl.

Hiei tightened his grip and jerked Kurama closer.

"NO." He said sternly, "I can't have you go and get us both killed."

"Alright, if you insist,"Kurama tried to make his voice sound exasperatedly annoyed. He couldn't let Hiei know he was enjoying the contact, but that didin't stop him from squeezing Hiei's hand in return for earlier.

Hiei nearly jumped out of his grip at the electricity he received from the touch. The feeling crawled up his arm and progressed through his body. The warmth of their palms was a new experience for him and such was the effect it had.

Kurama's smiled at Hiei's reaction even though the gesture was indistinguishable in the darkness.

Hiei released him and stilled his feet for a different affair. Kurama frowned at the loss of Hiei's hand, but replaced the disappointment with trepidation.

A carcass of a departed arachnid lay to their left. It was abandoned. The remaining food left on its exoskeleton rotting away and polluting the air with a foul stench. The two gazed upon the huge structure. It was the size of a stegosaurus rather than the hairy creepy crawler you could squash with a rolled up newspaper.

"We found the parent where's the offspring?"

Kurama searched with his eyes, ready to call upon his rose whip at a moments notice.

"Hear that?" Hiei asked.

They were surrounded by tons of different noises. It was a language that Hiei and Kurama translated into a chorus of hisses, clicks, clacks. The sounds came from too many areas to pinpoint exactly where they were coming from. Despite that, Kurama tried to figure out what was coming from where with his sensitive ears.

"Here's the security." Hiei called Kurama's attention to their front.

He turned and noticed the two giant spiders before them. They were as tall as an elephant and barely could fit themselves inside the compact cavern.

Hiei drew his sword and Kurama his whip as they stood back to back.

"You take right, I'll take left."

...