"What is this place?" Hiei asked, staring at the large wall in front of them.
"This is the village on the Island of Fire where all fire demons live." One of the guards explained. "Now let's go."
The men proceeded to open the gates, and take Hiei inside. Once there, the soldiers bound Hiei's hands behind his back with heavy shackles. Many villagers who all had the same red eyes and hair color gathered to see who the guards brought back. Many of their faces displayed great shock and wonder, and they murmured things to each other that Hiei couldn't hear.
"What's going on here?" Came a voice which held great authority. Everyone became silent. A young man came forward wearing well-off clothes. Just like all the other fire demons his eyes were red, and his hair was the same color.
"Lord Kyo, we found this boy wandering around the forest, and once we recognized him we brought him here for you." One of the guards said.
Kyo took one look at Hiei and froze with his eyes wide, and mouth gaping.
Then his expression changed to anger. "Boy.... You're Koray's son aren't you?"
"What if I am?" Hiei replied.
Again, the villagers' faces became filled with surprise, and they began to murmur things to each other. Kyo, however, didn't respond at all. He simply stared at Hiei, and for a moment the two remained locked in eye contact.
Finally Kyo said: "You're just like him.... Especially those eyes.... Looking at everyone like they're inferior...."
"That's because you are inferior." Hiei said with a smirk. But all Hiei got for his arrogance was a hard punch to the face which sent him crashing to the ground. Hiei struggled to get back on his feet, since his hands were bound, and even once he did, his cheek still stung incredibly.
"Feh! I hope that's not the best you can do, otherwise this isn't going to be any fun at all." Hiei said, smirking yet again.
"Hold your tongue, brat, or else you might loose it!" Kyo screamed with great anger.
"My Lord," One of the soldiers said. "It seems the boy isn't fully aware of the situation he's in. Perhaps you should.... enlighten him."
"Yes. You're absolutely right." Kyo replied. "Come with me, boy. The rest of you stay here."
Kyo grabbed Hiei by the arm and pretty much dragged him away. They walked down a stone path through an unoccupied area of the fire demons' territory, where you could see both sides of the wall that surrounded it. Very soon, they came to a large gate that was very similar to the front gate and was being guarded by two soldiers.
"Open the gate." Kyo ordered.
The two men complied to their Lord's order. As soon as the doors opened, Hiei was overwhelmed with a familiar, and yet utterly disgusting scent. He smelt blood, not freshly spilt as he enjoyed, but old blood that must have been there for years. But that wasn't what stood out the most. The scent which made Hiei sick was that of the rotting flesh. He had killed many before - human and demon - and come across corpses before, but never in his entire life had he encountered such a strong odor. It seemed as though there were hundreds of thousands of corpses lying there, rotten and decaying. He would have covered his mouth and nose, were his hands not bound.
Kyo continued inside, pulling Hiei along. The further they went in, the worse the stench got. Hiei looked around and saw nothing except many small stone huts. The huts looked as though they could hold about three or four people, and it seemed as though they were prison cells. Hiei could also hear a mix of moans, screams and voices muttering. It sounded like the living dead. He then noticed piles of something along the walls which surrounded even this part of the fire demons' territory. As he looked closer he realized that it was piles of bodies. The bottom of the entire wall on both sides was lined with bloody, rotten corpses that were swarmed with flies and other bugs. Seeing this made Hiei feel like vomiting.
"Disgusting, isn't it." Kyo finally said. "This is where we put the scum of this world.... Humans…. And anyone who belongs with them."
Hiei didn't respond. It's not like he particularly cared for humans either.
"This is where we put your father...." The fire Lord continued. "After we found out that he and that whore conceived you...." Kyo smiled slightly, though his expression seemed more like sadness than anything else. "Everyone always knew that this was where he belonged...."
"You bastard....!" Hiei said between his gritted teeth.
"That's right boy, your father was nothing but scum! And if that's the case, what do you think that says about you, a half-breed?! You're lower than scum.... and your blood is cursed. You deserve a fate worse than death!"
"Shut the hell up!" Hiei screamed.
Kyo ignored Hiei, and led him further into the prison camp. The atmosphere reeked of death and suffering, and it was nearly enough to make Hiei dizzy. In truth, Hiei was a little scared of what these people could do to him here, and that made him very uncomfortable. Hiei was never scared. Not even when he endured the torturous pain of having the jagan eye implanted into his forehead.
"You should know, boy.... that I don't ever plan to let you leave this place." Hiei said nothing in response. "Your silence astonishes me. Aren't you going to beg for your freedom? Or perhaps your life?"
"Begging is for the weak and cowardly, and I'm neither." Hiei stated firmly.
Kyo let out a laugh. "Its amazing how much you're like him.... Though you may not be feeling so sure of yourself once we're through with you. Everyone begs sooner or later. Even your father. He begged us to give him a swift death!"
Hiei gritted his teeth. It was obvious that Kyo was just trying to intimidate him.
After a few more minutes of walking, they reached an open area. The walls curved much further on, and enclosed the entire place. Along the wall, there were many small sheds that were spread out, and Hiei could only guess what they contained. The ground was bared, and stained with blood. Around the area, there were many wooden contraptions, but Hiei didn't know what they were. Not too far away stood about five soldiers who seemed to be on a break, or something. As soon as they noticed Kyo and Hiei, they stiffened up and greeted their Lord.
"Lord Kyo, it is a pleasure as always to see you here."
"Men, it seems we have a newcomer. I'm sure you won't mind giving him a small taste of what life here will be like." Kyo said to his soldiers as he tossed Hiei to them.
"Of course, we'll take care of him." One soldier said with a grin. "Though you don't too often bring children here personally.... Is this boy important?"
"Yes, he is. You all remember Koray, don't you...." All the men smirked as they recollected their previous prisoner. "This is his bastard son, born from an Ice Maiden in another world."
All the men burst out in laughter. "You don't say! Then we'll have to give him the treatment he deserves!"
Hiei growled at them. Then Kyo held up a small vial with dark red liquid inside. "Do you know what this is, boy?" Hiei didn't answer. "It's a special kind of drug. Illegal on all the other Islands. They call it the Reaper's Wine, because on sip is fatal to humans. Of course it won't kill a demon, but it's highly addictive. And it makes you more susceptible to pain."
Hiei gritted his teeth, but then one of the soldiers grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back in order to open his mouth. Kyo opened the vial and poured the drug down Hiei's throat. Hiei felt a burning sensation from the liquid, and although he didn't want to, he actually enjoyed it. In fact, he didn't want it to stop. And when it did he resisted the urge to ask for more.
Instead, he muttered: "Damn you all…." Realizing that they had achieved what they wanted.
Kyo smiled triumphantly. Then one of the soldiers walked off towards the nearest shed, and went inside. Meanwhile, another soldier took out a sword and slashed the back of Hiei's knees. It hurt like hell, and he then he fell to the ground.
"What the hell was that for?" Hiei groaned.
"Hmph!" One of the soldiers replied. "We cut the two tendons in the back of your knees so that you can't try and escape. In fact, you probably won't even be able to walk properly for a few weeks!"
The soldiers then pulled Hiei to his feet and removed his shackles, and took off his shirt. Hiei was then walked to a large wooden contraption. It was two large posts that stood vertically, and another which sat horizontally across the top of the other two. Two long ropes were hanging off the top of the contraption and, for each, one end simple hung there while the other was secured to the ground. The soldiers tied the loose ends to Hiei's wrists, then walked over the other end of the ropes, and pulled on them. Hiei was lifted a little off the ground. The soldiers adjusted Hiei's position to their liking, and once again secured the ropes. They had made it so that Hiei was being lifted nearly off the ground by his arms, but his feet could still reach the ground in order to keep him somewhat steady.
The soldier that had left returned and stood behind Hiei. "Brace yourself, boy." He said with an amused and excited tone.
Hiei felt a strong, painful slash to his back, and screamed out in pain. He felt many more slashes, and much against his will, he let out a cry each time. As the soldier continued to whip him, Hiei could feel the whip tearing through his skin against his bare back. Hiei felt the first blows he received start to burn, and it caused him tremendous pain. But it also angered him, as he knew that the intense pain was mainly caused by that drug. Hiei hated being vulnerable. His entire back became filled with a burning sensation, and he couldn't help but cry out some more. But then he realized they had finally stopped.
The soldier inflicting the wounds was now standing in front of Hiei with a twisted look on his face. Hiei was now breathing very heavily. The soldier lifted Hiei's chin, so that their eyes made contact.
"I like watching our victims on their first day here...." He said. "It's usually their first time experiencing pain of this sort, and so their screams are the most enjoyable.... I can tell that you've been through a lot in your short life, but I assure you, you have never felt the likes of which we're going to do to you here! Well? Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"Fuck off! You assholes don't intimidate me at all!" Hiei managed to screamed, with a fearless look in his eyes.
In a swift and sudden movement, the soldier pulled down Hiei pants and very tightly gripped his penis. Hiei cried out in pain, not mention embarrassment.
"Careful what you say, boy...." The soldier said with a dark, bloodthirsty look in his eyes. "I'll cut off your fucking balls and feed them to you!"
All Hiei's confidence left him suddenly. He had no idea what do say or do. After all, he'd never been threatened or touched in this manner....
"That's enough." Kyo said. "I need some rest, we'll continue tomorrow."
"Yes, my Lord."
And with that, Kyo turned and walked away. The soldiers released Hiei from his binding, and he fell to the ground, yet again. Hiei noticed that his wrists were bleeding where the rope was secured. The soldiers grabbed Hiei, and pulled him to his feet, a gesture which made his back, not to mention his legs, hurt. They allowed him to put his pants back on, and when he was done they took him to one of the stone huts. They roughly shoved him inside, and locked the door as they closed it. Inside, it stunk of urine and other bodily waste, and it was completely pitch black, except for an extremely tiny window to Hiei's right.
Shit.... was the only comment Hiei had about his situation.