Koenma took the team to a Spirit World forest where she was last seen as she escaped, "I'll leave the rest to you." he dissapeared said and disapeared. "So what do we do now?" Kuwabara asked. "Split up." Kurama said and he turned and disapeared into the woods. The others shrugged and went their own ways into the woods.

As time past, a fog fell over the woods and it became dark out. Kurama walked through the woods with a strict face on. Suddenly, something with a quick passed foot ran behind him. He turned, "WHO'S THERE!?!"...nothing was there. Then to his left....nothing there still. Then he heard it to his right, still nothing! Finally, something crept up behind him, he turned quickly, slashing at it. A dark figure dodged back and stood, until is dissapeared. His eyes shifted back and forth, it was gone. His eyes then narrowed, "I understand your feelings, Rika....but please, I pray you forgive me. I am not the one I once was." he continued to walk through the forest.

Kuwabara shook and flinched at every noise in the forest. That's when he heard something move quickly to his left. Like fast footsteps. He turned, "W-WHO'S THERE!?" he asked in a frieghtened voice. Then he heard maniacle laughing fill the forest. "S-STOP IT! Y-You won't get away with this!!" Kuwabara shouted. The laughing mysteriously fadded off into the distance. Kuwabara was confused and scared. Then he began to run when he heard rustling in the buches. It was a squirl though...he ran before he saw it.

Hiei walked casually through the forest with his hands in his pockets. He sensed something behind him. Just as he turned, something smacked him over the head, causing him to fall. He caught his ground, flipped by putting a hand to the ground, and landed in a kneling position. Looking up, he saw nor sensed nothing. He glared, but got up and continued to walk. When something came up behind him again he quickly turned and unsheathed his sword and slashed. Nothing was there again. Then behind him, another thing hit him. He almost hit the ground when he fell, but fliped over again and charged the dark figure. He tried several punches at it, but missed everytime until it finally disapeared for good. She was angry, but continued to walk.

Yusuke looked as though he was about to fall asleep as he walked through the woods. Then he saw something ahead on the path. It was hard to make out due to the fog, but it looked like a girl. Than she vanished. Yusuke blinked and rubbed his eyes. He yawned, "Must be more tired then I thought..." He ignored it and contined to walk. Little known to him, the girl he saw was sitting in the tree above him. She grinned evily, suddenly Yusuke turned to the tree and punched it. It shook violently and the girl almost fell out, but she vanished. Yusuke looked up and put his hands in his pockets. He frowned, then he turned and walked away.

The team met up somewhere outside of a cave. Everyone told of what they had 'encountered'. "Perhaps my fears are true.....She just may as well still be alive...." Kurama said. "Wait a second! What do you mean, 'still alive'!?" Kuwabara asked. "I would have guessed that she would have been killed in the prison...It seems as though she escaped though." Kurama answered looking at the sky. Their attentions turned to the cave. They sensed something. "What's that?" Kuwabara asked. "SHH!" Kurama hushed. Then they felt it outside the cave to the right. They turned when, what looked like a giant brown pitbull, rushed out of the forest and nearly trampled them. "GEEZE! What the hell's that?!" Yusuke managed to hold his ground. Getting a closer look at the dog demon, it had horns and long fangs. Spikes down it's back and two tails. It had peircing eyes and snarled. "What is that thing?!" Kuwabara asked. "I don't know, but it looks like we're about to find out." Yusuke said, then charged it. "WAIT YUSUKE!" Kurama called, but Yusuke jumped up and punched it square in the face. The dog demon bounced back up and butted Yusuke into the air. Then attempted to eat Yusuke, but Yusuke held himself between the dogs teeth. Then he burst out of the grip and shot a Spirit Gun on the side of it's head. Then dog fell to the ground, causing some dust to lift. Amazingly the dog got to it's feet. It lunged at Yusuke, but Kurama slashed it's face with his whip. Then Hiei went in and cut one of it's ears off. The dog yelped in pain and brought it's paw up and swiped Yusuke and Kurama into the trees. "YOUR GOING TO REGRET THAT!" Kuwabara yelled, comming up with his sword. He attempted to slash the demon dog, but was blown away with an energy blast that the dog shot out of it's mouth. "KUWABARA!" Yusuke called out, but turned his attention to the charging dog. Yusuke couldn't seem to move as the demon was fast approcing. Hiei moved in a blur and seemed to run past the dog and stopped. The demon dog stopped too, but little lines appeared on it. Hiei had sliced the dog in several spots. Ceasing this oppertunity, Yusuke fired another spirit gun, this disinagrated the demon, as well as the fact that Hiei choped it up. Kuwabara staggered to his feet, out of the bushes, "Looks like we showed him!" He began to laugh as though he were the one who defeated the dog. "YOU weren't the one who killed it-" "Maybe you should just go to hell shrimp!" Kuwabara cut Hiei off. "Yes, then maybe I can get you to come with me. I'm sure the devil will enjoy torchuring a weak and pathetic soul such as yours." Hiei wickedly smiled with fangs to scare Kuwabaka. It worked, seeing how Kuwabara's eye twitched, "Oh, no. Hehe...that's not nessicary, just forget everything I said. Hehe..." "Pff, so pathetic." Hiei turned and walked away. "Yeah, well so are you!" Kuwabara shouted back. "Don't push it Kuwabara..." Yusuke warned. "Let us continue." Kurama said and followed Hiei into the cavern. Soon, Kuwabara and Yusuke followed.


The halls of the cave were dark, damp, and cold. Drops of falling water upon the cavern floor rang out in the halls. Kuwabara and Yusuke were shivering. Though a stroung energy signature could be felt throughout the cave. "GEEZE! How can anyone stand it in here!? It's freezing!" Yusuke cmplained. "If you don't like it, then leave now with your life." Hiei said. "Who asked you?!" Yusuke stared at the back of his head in annoyance. Kurama shook his head. Just as they thought they were comming close to the sorce of the energy signarture, they came to a fork in the road. A four-way fork that is. "Greeeat.....now what?" Yusuke sounded annoyed. "I supose we split up." Kurama said. Hiei went to the far left and entered the tunnle. "HEY!" Kuwabara shouted to him, "stubborn little...." he mumbled. Yusuke and Kurama took two other tunnals, and Kuwabara took the last after a moment of staring and annoyment.

Very strangly, all the tunnles met up in one room. "Okay, that was pointless...." Yusuke said. Kurama was looking at the frount of the room. This room was strangly lit up, but there were no light. He also saw a desk at the frount of the room. It had all sorts of bottles filled with glowing liquid, gems, papers, and books that looked fat and anchient, that all lay on the desk nd some on the floor. Something in particular caught Kurama's eye and he walked up to the desk. "Kurama?" the others looked at him and walked up to him. Kurama clutched in his hand, a sliver, round, thick heart with leaf and swirl disings on it. Kurama was surprised and horrified at the same time. THIS confermed that she WAS alive, but he also had a sense of relife that she kept it. He opened it and listened to it's music and watched the clock tick. He also noticed the picture at the bottom. "So...she is alive?" Kuwabara questioned, staring at the heart locket. "That's correct!" Came a voice from behind.

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>> Chapter 3: meet her?

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