Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Retribution ❯ Found ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer - It's not mine. Never was. Only characters I own are the ones that have never before been mentioned in the YuYu universe.

Oh, and for the record, any words that are italicized are actually thoughts of someone.

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Retribution

Chapter 3

Found

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That evening, right before sunset, when the group had congregated together to compare notes, it was decided that the meeting with Hogoki would probably be their best lead to finding the girl.

They got back into the camp that evening and headed straight for the main tent. Lucky for them, Hogoki had been standing outside, speaking with someone when they arrived.

"Hogoki?" Kurama said, nodding in the fat demon's direction. He had let Youko take over again, allowing his emerald eyes to change to a deep amber, and his voice to deepen further.

"Ah! You have returned." he said, his red face twisted up into a smile of delight that looked more like a mocking sneer. "Please follow me." The six detectives followed the demon into the nearest tent, amiably dodging a number of lower class demons who had been designated as servers for the evening. Hogoki led them to the table at the very end of the rows, motioning for them to sit down.

"Where are the slaves you spoke so highly of?" Hiei asked, looking at the demon seller.

"They will be here momentarily." he said, glancing towards the curtains to his left. Almost as if that was the cue, a handful of female demons stepped out from behind the curtains, each one carrying a large tray of food.

-

Meleena toted the tray of food out from behind the curtain, wishing she could pour the scalding hot contents on the plate into the lap of the demon slave trader sitting at the table. She had been stuck serving the disgusting males ever since they had found out she was spying on them.

She looked at the head table and almost dropped the platters of food she was carrying. Right there, sitting alongside Hogoki and Gaganzi were Koenma's top ranked spirit detectives. Hope flared inside her, praying that Koenma had actually sent someone to get her out. Even though she had never formally met any of the detectives, considering Koenma tended to keep her away from anyone else, she knew them on sight.

A quick push on her shoulder broke her out of her wonderings, and she set the platter of food down between the red headed wind demon she knew as Jin, and the blue headed ice maser she knew as Touya. They apparently recognized her, because the elfin eared red head gave her a wink as she turned to get the rest of the food. She just smiled slightly in acknowledgement and continued on doing as she was told.

-

The spirit detectives looked carefully at the demoness' until their gaze landed on the second to last one in the line, who was sitting a tray of food in front of Touya and Jin. Her hair had been pulled up into a high, cascading ponytail, with the ends brushing just past her bare shoulders. And her gray-blue eyes were hardened in anger until she recognized the men sitting before her.

The look of recognition in her eyes had been the final blessing, and they knew then that this was the one Koenma had sent them after.

All of the servants/slaves had been dressed in what was probably the tackiest clothing any of the detectives had seen. Their outfits consisted of white, halter style tops that tied behind the necks, and long, ankle length skirts that fitted tight around the hips, and had slits all the way up until about three inches from the top. The majority of their backs were bare, as well as their stomachs, and legs. They were barefoot, and each of them wore a set of thin, metal bands along their wrists and ankles.

That's her, Hiei. Kurama said, beginning to eat his food in order to not raise suspicions. That's the one we're looking for. See if you can get into her mind and tell her who we are.

Hn. Hiei said, picking up his sake and taking a drink while searching out the girl's mind amongst the mess of auras in the tent. You talk to her.

Meleena? Can you hear me? Kurama asked carefully.

-Yes.- came a female mental voice. -I'm here. What are you doing here? I thought your group was on another assignment. Not that I'm complaining, but I wasn't expecting…..

Koenma sent us to track you down and get you out of here. Kurama said quickly.

-That damned toddler sent you to get me out of here- she all but laughed. -Well, that's rich, considering it's his damn fault they found me in the first place.-

Are you injured? Kurama asked, watching the demoness out of the corner of his eyes.

-Not so much as that I can't hold my own against these jerks if I could get these bands off of me.- she thought sadly.

The servants finished setting the food down on the table in front of Hogoki and the detectives, never muttering a word or utterance, then disappearing back behind the curtains, only to come back with numerous more bottles of sake.

After serving the males, Hogoki gave a sharp whistle, and the five females obediently lined up to his left.

What's going on? Hiei asked, noticing how they had all lined up next to the head slave seller.

-He's putting us on display, again.- came Meleena's not so happy voice. -What I wouldn't give to knock that cocky ass smirk off his ugly face-

"These, gentlemen, are my newest acquisitions." Hogoki said, motioning towards the five demoness' standing to his side. "They may look like little angels now, but once you take those bands off, they fight like cats, especially that one." The overly large man pointed towards where Meleena was standing and glaring at the slave trader.

You've been giving them problems? Kurama asked.

-You didn't think I wouldn't put up some kinda fight, do you- she asked primly. -And if I had full control right now, I'd drown the whole damned rotten bunch of them-

Yusuke? Kurama said mentally, catching the young man's attention and trying not to laugh at the obvious anger in the young woman's voice. Apparently this woman appeared to be just the hellcat her reputation spoke of.

-Yeah- came their leader's voice.

Keep him busy for a few moments.

-Gotcha.- he answered, snickering as he drew Hogoki into a conversation about each one of the women and their backgrounds so that Hiei and Kurama could continue to question her.

How true is that? Kurama asked, catching her slight smirk. And what exactly do those bands do?

-True enough that the last one who tried to put his hands on me wound up getting sent to the healer.- she said smugly. -Unfortunately, I'm still recovering from that little escapade. As for the bands, they neutralize our demonic abilities. We can't use any of our abilities while they are on us. But we can't remove them ourselves. So how exactly are you going to get me out of here-

We all need to be able to speak with you openly. Kurama said. I'm going to try and convince Hogoki to let us take you and the other girls with us tonight. We'll find out what we need to know, let you get a decent night's sleep, and then make an offer for you.

-You're going to buy me from him- Meleena's voice cracked. -That's fine with me.-

Well, there is more to the plan that that. Kurama answered. But our main objective is to get you secured first.

-I understand.- she said. -Just get me out of here, and I can tell you the easiest way to get to the ringleaders, if that's what you want. I've been in this place too long to not realize what's going on around me.-

-Agreed.- Kurama said. -Continue on acting as you have, and we will try to get you out of here as soon as possible without raising any suspicions.- A slight nod from the woman's head was the only form of understanding that they got.

-

"…are well worth the price I'm asking for them." Kurama heard as he turned his attention back to where Yusuke and Hogoki were speaking.

"Would it be possible to have them come with us this evening?" Kurama asked, pointing to the five females standing beside them. The females behind them started growling at the thought of being manhandled by another group of wanna-be buyers, but Meleena shushed them with a glare and a negative motion of her hand.

"You want to take them with you?" Hogoki asked. "You plan on buying them at the auction, or what?"

"We were planning on dealing directly with you, and save all the trouble of having to go through the auction." Touya commented lazily.

"They can't just walk away with you without some kind of insurance." Hogoki said simply. "I don't care if you are Mukuro's top fighters, or Enma's brat's lackeys! They stay with me until you put up some type of collateral." Four bags of gold coins were suddenly in front of the corpulent demon trader, and Hogoki turned wide eyes to where Hiei pulling his hand out of his robe, smirking.

"That's enough collateral for one night." he said firmly. "They're coming with us."

"But…"

"Look, we're trying to make this easy for you, buddy." Yusuke said, glaring across the table at the ugly demon. "If we like what the girls do, we'll pay three times your highest offer for them. If we don't, then you'll get them back tomorrow and you can even keep the gold."

The demon trader looked at the assembled group of demons around him, and frowned. They had money to toss around, and the power to back it up; he could recognize that easily enough. And either way he looked at it, he just made a profit by letting the wenches go with them for the night, even if they did bring them back in the morning. And even if they didn't, the four overflowing bags of gold coins in front of him would more than pay for the five demoness'. It was a no lose situation, and the demon turned his attention back to the surrounding men.

"One night." he said, his tone completely business like in manner. "They're yours for the rest of the night, and up until the auctioning block begins tomorrow. But after that, I want them back here. Is that understood?"

"Perfectly." Yusuke answered, a grin on his face. Hogoki mumbled something and turned to the closest of the females standing next to him, grabbing her roughly by the arm until she winced and a small cry of pain escaped her mouth. The other four girls, including Meleena, watched as the slave trader manhandled the girl in front of them.

-That god damned bastard- Hiei heard Meleena growl.

He does this often? Kurama questioned her.

-All the time.-

And you just take it? Hiei asked.

-These bands stop us from retaliating.- she answered scathingly, turning her wrist inconspicuously so that they could see the thin bands wrapped around her wrists. -There's nothing we can do.-

"You and the other four are going with these gentlemen, this evening." his voice purred. "You better behave yourselves, and do exactly what they say."

"Yes…sir.." the female ground out. "We will do as you request."

"You'd better, or else those bands on your hands and feet will feel worse than they already do." he growled. Hogoki suddenly stood up and looked at the six demons closest to him. "I have other business to attend to before the bidding begins. Excuse me, gentlemen." Kurama nodded in the seller's general vicinity and continued to eat as though nothing was the matter. A few moments later, Hiei and Kurama stood and looked at the five females standing behind them.

"We'll take them back." he said to Yusuke.

"We're right behind you." Yusuke muttered, pushing his plate back. "We'll make one more loop around the main area, just so that it won't look suspicious. Then we'll meet you where Botan dropped us off."

"Hn." Hiei said, turning to walk away and leaving Kurama to herd the girls ahead of him.

"Come with us." the kitsune avatar said. The women nodded and followed silently behind Hiei's retreating form. Not a word was spoke until they got out of the encampment.

"So what possessed that Spirit World brat to send someone after me?" Meleena finally asked when they got out of hearing range from the little tent city. She had left the other four women huddled together walking behind them.

"He had confirmation that your partner had been killed." Kurama said carefully. "Another demon named Blaize, is what he had told us."

"Yeah." she said, not looking at the kitsune in front of her.

"He seemed overly concerned about you." Kurama said, trying to fish out why she suddenly seemed so angry upon hearing Koenma's name again. "So, he sent us in to find you."

"What's so important that the ruler of Spirit World sent someone to get you out of here?" one of the other females asked. "You're a demon, and the last I heard, Koenma didn't take to kindly to our kind." She looked like some type of bird demon, with colorful blue and yellow wings attached to her back, and bright green hair.

"It's none of your concern." Hiei said, his eyes trained on the demoness who had questioned Meleena. "We're here." Kurama nodded to the remaining four girls and gave them a reassuring smile.

"You four can rest tonight." he said, nodding towards the forest edge where a number of green vines began weaving themselves together to form a mat. "Go lie down and get some sleep. My companions and I won't bother you. We just need to speak with Meleena." The girls just sighed and moved closer to the sparse trees in the forest, huddling together and lying on the some what soft bed of vines that Kurama had conjured up from the forest surrounding them.

"So what exactly is going on?" Meleena asked the two demons that stood beside her.

"We're here to get you out and arrest the leaders of the slave ring." Kurama said. "As I said before, our main function was to get you out. Now that that is done, we can apprehend the bad guys, so to speak."

"We'll I'll be glad when we get the hell out of here!" came Yusuke's voice from behind them. The girl looked back and saw the other four detectives walking up to them. "This place stinks worse than last months dirty laundry." Kurama quickly made the introductions and waited for Meleena to answer the question.

"It's the dead bodies they keep piling up." Meleena said absently . "Something is killing off a lot of demons, and the leaders keep pilling the bodies up outside the encampment."

"How long have they been dying in droves like this?" Touya asked the woman in front of him.

"A couple of weeks." she answered. "The last time any of the underlings in the slave ring brought in humans, they got sick and died. So they quit bringing them in. Apparently whatever it is, humans can't handle it."

" 'ell, I think it be time to ship th' lit'le lass to Koenma so we can do we job." Jin said, stretching his hands above his head. "Wher' the comminca'ion mirro', Urameshi?"

"Wait just a darn minute!" Meleena said, shaking her head. "I'm not leaving until I get Hogoki back for what he's done to me."

"Now's not the time to worry about revenge." Hiei said, his bored expression turned to her.

"Isn't that just a tad hypocritical, coming from you, Hiei?" Meleena asked, cutting her eyes towards the shorter demon. "Considering your record, I thought revenge was a specialty of yours." Hiei just growled and put his hand on the hilt of his katana.

"Don't start." Kurama said, breaking up the impending argument and/or bloodshed between the two. "We can't send her back, not yet anyways."

"And why not?" Kuwabara asked. "She's a girl, and girls don't need to be in the middle if a fight!"

"She's the only one who knows what goes on during the day." Touya pointed out. "She knows the daily routines and can help us figure out the quickest way to bring Hogoki and Gaganzi down."

"Whatever." Yusuke said. "We can figure out what we're going to do in a minute. Right now, I'm suffocating. Hey, Windy, can't you kick up some gales and get this smell out of here?"

"Don' get in a fuss full, Urameshi." Jin said, taking to the sky with a grin on his face. "Hol' on." Jin flew up above them and started flying around in circles, causing a small tornado to form. All around them, the spirit detectives waited, hoping the tornado would suck in all the rank air, but unfortunately, it did not work. And after about ten minutes of Jin flying around, he finally landed and huffed. "It's not workin'. he muttered.

"The stench is coming from the river over there." Meleena said, nodding back towards the way they had come. "The dead bodies have stopped the water from flowing. Get the river moving again, and the stench will eventually go away."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Kuwabara asked stupidly, scratching his head.

"We're not." Kurama said. "She is." They turned to Meleena and waited.

"Well, what are you waiting for? You are supposed to be some kind of water demon, right?" Yusuke yelled. Meleena frowned and stalked over to him, a look on her face that eerily reminded the detective of a very angered Koenma.

"Get these off of me, and I'll take care of it." she said. "I can't do anything with these bindings on, and anytime I try to take them off they shock the living hell out of me." Kurama, ever the peace maker in the group, stepped forward and got between the two.

"Allow me." he said, deftly removing the bands from her hands and feet. Meleena smiled at him and stretched the tendons by rolling her ankle around in circles.

"Thank you, Kurama." she said. "You have no idea how good that feels. I've been banded for over two weeks." She walked over to the river bank and knelt down, her hands lightly touching the water's surface. Her eyes glowed eerily white for a few moments before the sluggish body of water seemed to pick up its pace and move down river, and Hiei noticed a small mark on the woman's back that began glowing the second she put her hands into the tainted water. It was nothing really elaborate, but the pulse given off by the marking seemed utterly familiar to him. He put it off for pondering for a later time. They had work to do right now.

"Neat trick." Yusuke commented, watching as the girl brought the river water to life. "I'll have to get her to teach it to me."

"She can teach you after we get her out of here, if that is even possible." Hiei commented dryly. "Right now, we need to be figuring out how to take these idiots down."

-Two hours later….-

The spirit detectives had managed to set up a somewhat feasible camp in the area surrounding them, thanks mostly to Kurama's control of the Makai plant life surrounding them. Meleena had managed to get the river mostly cleared out, and the offending stench had lightened up to a more bearable measure.

"I'm going to walk along the river bank." she told them. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Be careful." Kurama said. The woman only nodded again, and took off towards the river once more. Kurama turned once more to the banking fire in front of him, but his mind sought out Hiei.

Hiei?

What?

Follow her and see what she does.

Why?

Youko is telling me that he saw a glowing mark on the girl's lower back that resembled a familiar marking we've seen numerous times in Koenma's castle. Kurama said. Did you notice it?

Yeah.

'This whole case has felt off since the beginning. How come we've never met this pretty little creature before? Koenma said she's been working for him longer than Yusuke's been alive. Why have we never met, or even heard Koenma mention her name before?' Youko pondered

Maybe she may be one of Koenma's past lovers? Kurama asked the spirit fox. That would explain her inexplicable anger towards him. Not to mention why he has kept her out of the way.

But it would not explain why he sent us to get her. Hiei pointed out. He's about to mate the ferry girl. Why keep an old lover around?

'Maybe he thinks to keep her as a mistress.' Youko commented. 'I don't blame him. She's pretty enough, even when she's dirty, like now.'

I don't know. Just go see, please Hiei?

Hn. Kurama barely noticed the flash of black as it disappeared from the closest tree.

-

Meleena walked along the riverbank, thanking the gods that the damnable bands had been pulled off of her wrists and ankles. She could feel her demonic powers just below the surface, trying to break away and cause the river to flood in retaliation for what she'd been put through.

Upon finding a more shallow spot in the river, the girl slowly stepped into the running water, using her power to sweep the nearby area of any type of nasty little creatures that might be hiding in the dark water. Unfortunately, before she could really get any time to relax, she felt the aura of one of the detectives following her trail, and landing not far from the bank.

"Which ever one of you it is, get out already." she called out. "I know you're around here somewhere." A quick flash of black was barely seen, and Meleena found Hiei standing at the edge of the bank. "Why are you following me?"

"The fox sent me to make sure you don't get yourself captured again." he said simply, folding his arms and leaning against a nearby tree. "Besides, I've got some questions for you."

"And what would they be?" she asked absently, pulling her hair out of the blasted pony tail and leaning back into the water. "Questions about the camp?"

"No. Questions about that marking on your back." he said. Meleena instantly tensed up and pulled her head out of the water to regard the fire demon with a frown.

"That mark is none of your business." she answered stonily. "Just forget you ever saw it."

"It's the same mark that's painted all over the halls in Koenma's castle." Hiei continued.

"It's the crest of the spirit world ruling family." she answered finally, stepping out of the water and sitting on the bank, her back to Hiei so that he could see the markings. "Only members of the family and close friends are ever given it."

"Then what are you doing with it?" he asked. "You just work for the toddler."

"I've had it for a while." she answered, shrugging. "I've been working for that damned Spirit World brat for longer than you may think."

"That still doesn't answer my question." he said, reaching out with his telepathy to try and force the answers out of her, only to be confronted with a barrier of some sort. "What the..?"

"Stay out of my head." Meleena growled suddenly. "You've got no business up there poking around."

"What are you hiding?" Hiei asked, glaring at her coldly.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." she answered, standing up and turning towards him. "And seeing as how I can't bathe with you standing there, let's get back to camp shall we?" Hiei just growled and took to the trees, following behind the water demoness with a scowl on his face that would melt steel.

-

A/N - Okay, confused yet? Yeah, I know you are. Sorry, but you'll find out what's going on, and what part Meleena plays in this whole mess in the next few chapters.

Remember to review. I want to know what you are thinking.

Later,

A.A.