A/N: Wow I'm just spitting these out aren't I? I really haven't been expecting to work on this that much because I've been so busy but I've suddenly gotten in the typing mood and well…here's the next chapter!

O/C24: Yusuke takes Misaki on a walk while the others prepare her birthday party. They come back to the rooms later in the afternoon and Misaki doesn't completely explode on them when they celebrate;Yukina gives Misaki a mysterious gift, a necklace with a blue, glowing stone on it. After eating cake and hanging out, most everyone who attended leaves, Kuwabara and Yusuke retiring to their room. Misaki wonders where Hiei went and Kurama tells her that he left some time during the gathering. But while standing at the window, Yukina's necklace begins to pulsate and Misaki realizes that Hiei is in danger…

--

The crowded room and noisy people led to Hiei's silent departure out the window. He was surprised Misaki took it so well. If they had done something he hadn't wanted them to do he probably would have killed them.

He wandered about for a while before finding a tree to rest in, napping lightly until the world became darker; then he awoke.

The air was now crisp and cool, lending that sense of openness even to the dense forest. Not the most pleasant scent to the finely tuned nostrils of the fire youkai walking along the ground, but certainly not the worst. Though perhaps one who much preferred the smell of a thousand rotting corpses wouldn't be the best judge of such a thing.

He leapt up into a tree to watch the moon rise, afterwards deciding to spend some time training, fighting invisible enemies and the like. It was nothing terribly exerting, but enough to keep his body prepared for the battle tomorrow.

After one such execution of an intricate sword attack, Hiei paused for a moment, allowing his stirred up blood to settle. While in the middle of an attack it was easy to continue on because of the motion already happening as well as the blood and brain flowing forward; it was the beginning, starting out cold, which poses a problem for all fighters. And so Hiei focused on this, knowing it to be true.

He sheathed his sword again, standing up normally and closing his eyes, commanding his body to cool down.

It was then that he became more aware that he was being watched. He had known the moment someone had come into the vicinity of course, but he only now realized that they were looking for him.

They came from behind, two of them and he did not turn around, preferring to place his hands in his pockets and wait. This was how he began all of his training, with the waiting, and so it appeared that he did not know of their presence.

"Jaganshi Hiei." It was a statement, not a question.

Hiei did not bless them with an acknowledgement.

"Who is the third member of your team?"

If they knew him, they knew Yoko Kurama as well and yet Hiei was not in an obliging mood. He continued to ignore them, eyes still shut as he waited.

"Tell us." Two ghostly voices drifted towards him through the night.

Hiei began walking away, tired of questions that he did not intend on answering.

The two figures appeared in front of him, their bodies completely shadowed so as not to reveal any features. "You will tell us or you will die."

Hiei smirked, "Do you really think so?"

He took off through the trees, quickly leaving the ground for the branches above. Glancing back as he left them, Hiei was pleased to see their forms disappearing rapidly behind him. He would be the one to choose the battle ground if they really wanted a fight. Let them come.

But his expression changed into one of surprise when he saw that they started after him, and gained on him faster than anything ever had before. This presented a challenge Hiei had been waiting for and had not received since the tournament started.

His steps quickened, his reactions doing the same as he dashed through the never-ending forest, never able to shake those who followed him.

Branch, leaf, trunk, grass, root, air, moonlight, shadow, all of these things were clear to Hiei as he ran onward even though they blurred together as a result of his fast feet.

Through the Jagan, Hiei examined the forest around him, searching for a prime spot for a fight. If their skills were as good as their speed, Hiei hoped so despite his own reservations, they would need the perfect battleground.

Something continued to gnaw at Hiei, something he could not put name to. And then suddenly, it dawned on him.

--

"Hiei? In danger?" Kurama asked making sure he was interpreting her words correctly.

Misaki nodded, "He's being chased by…" She trailed off, beginning to climb out the window.

Kurama leapt out of the window after her, following the stream of her white hair which billowed behind her as she ran.

--

Hiei knew even as his pursuers began closing in on him that he was beaten. It was an odd feeling for the warrior, knowing for certain the defeat was at hand. And yet he wondered how many people felt as he did, felt without a doubt that they were about to be taken down.

Deciding to meet his fate head-on and to take someone with him, Hiei stopped at the spot he chose and faced his enemies, standing under the canopy of trees with moonlight scattered around him, peaking through the leaves. He discarded his black outer cover, tossing it aside and bending his knees, hand poised just over his katana's hilt.

Those who followed him stopped abruptly, twenty feet in front of him. There were two of them, nothing special about them, though their features were shadowy because of the ever-shifting light falling between the trees.

None one said a word, Hiei sizing up his opponents and his opponents doing the same to him.

There was an out-of-place sort of peace that welled from deep within Hiei's fiery heart. Then they attacked.

As if on some cue only the three of them could hear they began all at the same time. Hiei struck out with deadly precision at his enemies to find that they themselves reacted with the same deadliness.

His katana would have gleamed in the moonlight if it was still enough for the light to reflect off of it.

Hiei's every move was executed with perfection, his wrist, his body responding with an accuracy and smoothness he had never noticed before. The motion of his arm was fluid, his stance never faltered, and yet with that same certainty, they began to out-fight him.

He noticed other things he hadn't ever taken into account; the feel of the grass beneath his feet, each blade as it bent under his foot, the smell of the trees around him, pine trees, the sap of a maple as well as other youkai-trees. He could feel his lungs expanding to take a breath, his fingers adjusting automatically to cause an easier counter-attack. He felt as though he was almost able to see the breeze which swept over and past him.

"So this is what it is like to be on the losing side." He thought absently in the midst of a parry, "Strange."

His body was being pushed to the limits and beyond. Hiei's exhilaration peaked even as he slowly gave ground. His technique was bar none, his speed and skill surpassing the greatest masters of the blade. But he was losing.

Hiei did not know how exactly he was losing. None of them had landed a blow, they all appeared equals but he was continually forced back. There were two of them yes, but that was not explanation enough.

Even as they moved about the trees, in and out and over and through, his strokes were coming faster than before, a mere blur seemingly nonexistent to a ningen eye. He stepped back again, dodging to the side, expecting to catch one enemy off-guard but knowing it was not possible even as he raised the katana to slice once more.

And he would not give up. Knowing he was a fallen warrior, he kept on, and would keep on until his arm dropped off of his shoulder in exhaustion. Then he would switch to the other and fight some more.

Then all three of them stopped, listening to the same cue which told them to do so.

Sweat glistened over Hiei's chest and back, but his breath came easily, perhaps deeper than ever. The clear air was even crisper than it had been. It was odd all of the things he noticed at this point; the color of the moonlight was not in fact silver but rather a combination of colors which hinted at the reflection of its source, the sun. There were deep craters in the surface of the moon and he was able to make out all of them, though he was not even looking directly at it.

The three of them broke apart on the same cue, giving time for more things to sneak into Hiei's awareness. He was completely composed, feeling his blood pumping through his veins as though he simply decided to take a walk somewhere.

It was that same peace, that same calmness telling him he lost, that washed over him before he broke out into a rage, refusing to stand still while death knocked at his symbolic doorstep, waiting for him to give out. They came at him again.

Faster and faster they struck, counterattacked and blocked, the small clearing they fought in whirling around them as the trio danced gracefully about in the moonlight in their intricate but lethal steps.

Hiei's rage gave him a bolster of extra energy, the silence around him buzzing in his ears as the still wind whistled over his eardrums from the swiftness.

Finally he felt the edge of his blade make contact. It was a particularly satisfying feeling to make the first hit, despite the retaliation across his cheek that quickly loosed blood down the side of his face. That's when he knew it was over.

Their next flurry of attacks was too quick even for the fire youkai; his skin shredded, blood pouring from numerous wounds that came from all sides. He did not know when he dropped his katana, only realizing in the back of his head that he no longer held the weapon in his hand.

Pricks of pain dotted his back and stomach, his arms and legs, tearing through his pants, leaving slices of the attacks in the cloth as easily as it did in his skin. The pain was actually a small burning sensation, resulting from an overload of the nervous system. Having no equivalent to such a high level of excruciation, the brain was only able to emit the pitiful burning sensation in its stead.

He held admiration for his adversaries, admiration for their speed which surpassed his own. No one had ever beaten Hiei at his own strength.

Gratefully he dropped to his torn knees when their carvings ceased. While his upper legs had not born the brunt of the strikes, he could feel the stripes going in every direction across almost every part of his body.

There was not a sound in the forest as Hiei fell onto his back, legs and arms spread out. Even the wind stopped.

He did not know if his foes were still nearby, though he vaguely sensed their presence still. Darkness threatened to overtake his vision but he held it off momentarily.

"Thank you." He said before allowing the darkness to consume him. If his enemies answered him, he was unable to hear it.

Hiei left himself, feeling light long before he ever saw it. The light was warm and beckoning, urging him onward, into the awaiting arms something akin to the sun. The light smiled at him, reaching out a hand, shining brightly through his darkness, reaching out for him, wanting him.

And so he reached back to the light, basking in the affectionate glow that made the being.

"Ha ha, the forbidden child, dreaming of light."

"What?" He asked the voice that came from nowhere and everywhere at once.

It turned cold. The light was different than before, it was not the light that was warm and waiting, that light was replaced by a ruthless presence. This light was piercing, harsh, and he was in the midst of it. He longed for the darkness but this light penetrated even the deepest of the darkness. He longed for that other light, the light that soothed, not this light which was cruel and unfeeling.

"Bloody child Hiei, the other light cannot be yours." The voice held laughter in its words.

"What?" He asked again, his own voice weaker than before.

"Ta...meant…th...you…..cannot..."

The voice was cut off from Hiei and he hazily felt a sensation run through his body which he was separated from. He was pulled away from both the light and the darkness, remembering what it was like to have a body. He crashed back into such a sensation, a quiet gust of pain escaping his lips because of the jolt.

Hiei tried to move, tried to open his eyes, something, but his body refused to respond. He could feel the Jagan's power steadily creeping back to him as he became more aware of the soft grass against his back—creating small uncomfortable points of contact with his skin—as well as the blood seeping out of him. He was also aware of the warmth like the first light healing him, mending his wounds. It swept through his body slowly, painstakingly knitting the torn skin back together. He realized that said light was no longer with him and he struggled with his body.

He regained control of his movements and started to sit up, opening his eyes.

A figure sitting next to him gently pushed him back onto the ground. He couldn't focus his vision, blinking several times and barely making out the tree branches above him.

Hiei's mouth opened to say something, but it shut unable to make a sound.

"Stay still." The figure ordered.

He knew the voice, knew it well but he could not place it. His vision cleared enough to see who it was.

--

Not necessarily a cliffhanger but once again, there really isn't a good stopping point within a thousand words or so. Thanks for reading!

-lotsm