It was a couple of hours after that that Yoko was ready to go. Yoko left Kuroune in charge while he was gone and set off for the cave with Satira and Hiei. He had arranged to be followed by a group of his most trusted thieves to call on in case the situation arose. Yoko had a plan worked out and he hoped he wouldn't have to resort to using them, but he was not above using brute force to get his way.

Now that Hiei remembered where the caves were, he was able to lead them on a more direct path, but it would still take a day to make the journey. They stopped later that night and rested. Hiei left to find a river for some water, leaving Satira and Yoko alone. She stared silently into the fire, fighting the fear that was growing inside her. Yoko watched her, and noted her swishing tail that indicated her emotions.

"I'm not going to give you to them." He said suddenly, breaking the silence. She jumped when he spoke, but nodded in an unconvinced way.

"I know." She said softly. Yoko moved over to her and puts his arm around her.

"Then why so worried?" he asked.

"I'm not." She protested as he gave her a knowing look.

She made a face. "Ok, maybe I am worried. But…can you blame me?"

"I am not going to let them get you." He reassured her. "You're just going to have to trust me."

"I know." She said softly. "But this is all my fault. You should have let me go when you had the chance."

"Why would I do a stupid thing like that?" He asked her.

"Gee, I don't know. You wouldn't have been shortsheeted, half your clothes wouldn't have ended up being pink, and you wouldn't have had to deal with the raiders capturing Amira!" she replied sharply ticking off items on her fingers.

"I think it's all worth it." He said softly, putting his hand over her fingers to stop the counting. "I love you. And we will get Amira back." He smiled. "And anyway, I don't think Hiei will let us leave without her." Yoko smirked knowingly.

"I think they like each other." Satira said simply, looking into the fire.

"I know they do." Yoko answered. "They just don't know it yet. Why do you think I pair them up all the time?" Satira smiled at him.

"You sneaky fox!" she laughed.

"Either way, they need to learn to get along. And I think they are well on their way to doing it."

"So you think they will stop arguing?" Satira asked.

Yoko laughed. "No, they'll still argue. But it will be more like playful banter instead of them actually trying to kill each other."

"You mean kinda like we were?" Satira asked with a smile.

"We were never ready to kill each other." Yoko said.

"I was." She said teasingly. He looked sharply at her and then realized she was kidding.

"That's not funny." He said. She burst out laughing.

"What are you two making so much noise about?" Hiei asked annoyed when he came back. "I heard you all the way at the river, might as well announce to them that we are here!"

"I didn't know us coming to get Amira was a secret Hiei." Satira shot back.

"Hn" was all Hiei said as he jumped into a tree.

"You're really worried about her, aren't you?" She asked him. Hiei looked at her out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say another. Yoko and Satira looked at each other knowingly.

with Amira

Amira glared daggers at anyone who was brave enough to pass in front of where she was tied. The Raiders had made camp in front of the cave, their leader waiting impatiently with arms crossed for Yoko. After Hiei had left; they dragged her to the front of the cave, dug a pole into the ground and proceeded to tie her to it. Having learned from Yoko himself, she could have easily gotten free, but as she was surrounded there wouldn't have been any use.

"See them?" Prakash asked one of his returning scouters.

The scout shook his head causing Prakash to growl in irritation.

"Guess he cares more about that cat than you." He said as he strode over to Amira. She glared up at him.

"We'll see." She said calmly, turning her head haughtily away from him.