"where the hell is Kurama! He's been gone for like two days!" Yusuke exclaimed. Koenma leaned back in his chair, " He has taken Cheza to demon world..I am not quite sure what he is up too, but I don't have time to worry about it! You three have a mission!" Hiei stood in silence leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and arms crossed, he was a bit worried about his kitsune friend. "the three of you are going to demon world. There is a fugitive on the loose..he has killed over 41 humans tonight ..my best men were killed trying to capture him! about 30 minutes ago he escaped back to the makai. I want him alive! Now go! And if you have a chance, try to locate Kurama. I trust he will protect Cheza, but I am a bit concerned" Boton appeared and opened up a portal at Koenma's request. "I have a test tomorrow! I should be getting my beauty sleep!" Kuwabara wined. "Hn! It'll take much more than sleep to make you.." "No fighting you guys! Now get going!" Boton interrupted shoving Kuwabara and Yusuke towards the portal. "Later carpet crawler!" Yusuke said before entering the portal. "Wait up Urameshi!" Kuwabara yelled following his gel-haired friend through the portal, Hiei soon after.

"This place reeks!" Yusuked exclaimed. Kuwabara nodded in agreement, "so where exactly are we supposed to start looking?" The two looked around their surroundings, they were in front of the cave Yoko and Cheza had entered not to long ago. Hiei walked into the mouth of the cave, he could smell Cheza and Kurama's scent..it was very faint but there nonetheless. "Hey! Where are you going!" Yusuke yelled as Hiei walked farther inside. Hiei didn't respond, and soon vanished into the shadows. "Figures the shrimp would take off and leave us to do all the work!" Kuwabara remarked. "why the hell couldn't we wait until morning anyway! I can barely see anything right now!" Yusuke said crossing his arms. "That cave is creepy! theres no way Im going in there Urameshi!" " I agree with ya, if that demon is in there Hiei will bring him to Koenma..lets head west..come on"

Cheza was frozen in terror, the soul collector had revealed its face to them and it was not a pretty site. It wore a black cloak, the hood had kept its face hidden. " A defense mechanism..it rarely reveals its face..I have heard if it does..any lesser demon or human instantly becomes paralyzed from fear" Yoko informed. Cheza couldn't take her eyes off the creature. It had long razor sharp teeth, they were yellow and roaches and other insects could be seen crawling around on them. Its eyes were crimson red, no white could be seen in them. Ram like horns were attached to its head, and its head was nothing but a mere skull. Yoko kept the mirror up and turned Cheza's head towards him with his free hand, "snap out of it!" The sound of glass shattering could be heard throughout the forest, Cheza snapped out of her trance like state to see the mirror in Yoko's hand had busted into a million little shards. Her eyes widened in terror. The soul collector had somehow shattered the mirror, leaving them defenseless. "it..broke the mirror! what are we going to do!" "Run" Yoko whispered. Cheza began to shake, she tried to run but her legs wouldn't budge. The creature was smiling sinisterly at them and was slowing hovering over towards the two. "RUN!" Yoko yelled while running off in a silver blur. He had figured Cheza would take off running with him, but she hadn't. She hadn't moved an inch, she was to scared to move. By the time he realized Cheza was still paralyzed from fear the soul collector was close enough to reach out and touch her. Once again the creature hissed, Cheza closed her eyes tightly..she could hear her heart pounding at that point.

"baka! Why are you just standing there!" She opened her eyes after hearing an all too familiar voice. She had been pushed to the ground just as the soul collector was fixing to touch her. She looked up to see Hiei glaring down at her. Yoko quickly sprinted to Hiei's side, "what are you doing here!"

Hiei's crimson orbs averted to the soul collector as it lunged at him, he quickly held up a golden mirror. The creature hissed once again and began backing away "How much time do you need?" Hiei asked glancing over at Yoko. "4 minutes". The creature was now about a foot away from them, glaring daggers. "how did you…where did you get that mirror!" "there are more important things to worry about!" Hiei snapped.

~~~~~~~~~~~~10 minutes earlier~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hiei stood in front of sprite forest, glaring at a little faerie as it whizzed by him. Kurama's scent was much stronger now, it was obvious to him the two had been through here recently. He entered the forest, keeping his hand on the hilt of his katana. As he made his way deeper and deeper into the forest he felt a stinging sensation on his arm. He looked down to see a red headed faerie (Kalen) glaring at him. "What business do you have here!" Hiei didn't even bother to respond he simply flicked the faerie with his finger sending him slamming into a tree. He treaded on following Kurama's scent until he reached a yellow flower. "Who are you?" Hiei looked down at the flower, spotting a sprite with a golden crown atop its head. "Where is the fox?" Hiei asked not bothering to answer the sprites question. "ahh you have come to assist the silvered haired fox" Hiei crossed his arms, glaring impatiently. "I forgot to give him something before he left…please take this to him..he may need it" Hiei's eyes followed Nyx's, 4 faeries appeared, wings flapping with all their might, they were struggling to hold up a large golden mirror…

Everyones attention averted to the cauldron as it began to glow bright red. Hiei had managed to ward off the soul collectors numerous attacks, but it had not yet given up. "its time…" Yoko whispered. Cheza began to slowly walk towards the cauldron as a purple fog began to take the form of a human. The soul collector screeched in anger, this was its last chance to capture Kuronue's soul. The purple mist began to fade and Kuronue's lifeless body stood. The orb of light emerged from the spirit turkey and took off full speed towards Kuronues body. The soul collector took off after the orb in desperation, in a blur Hiei appeared in front of the soul collector, mirror held straight in front of its face. The shrill wail of the creature caused everyone to fall to the ground and cover their ears.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

A few minutes passed, everyone looked up as the soul collector abruptly stopped screeching . Cheza looked every which way…the soul collector was nowhere in sight. Her eyes widened in fear, had it gone after Kuronue again! She quickly got to her feet and spun around to see Kuronue staring at her with a smile. She was at a loss of words, it had worked..they had actually brought him back! Hiei and Yoko got to their feet soon after. Yoko looked like he had just seen a ghost, he didn't say a word..but stared in awe at his old comrade.