It had been a stupid mistake.

As I favored my right side, I dragged my leg along the ground, clutching at my stomach in an effort to keep the majority of my insides just that, inside. Every step I took, every limp I managed, felt like a torturous eternity. I could feel blood streaming out of every gaping wound.

A very stupid mistake.

I let out a strained grunt when my leg hit some rocks and rubble along the forest floor of Makai. I couldn't contain the growl that came soon after. I must look pitiful. How the hell had I gotten myself into this?

Thinking back on it was an annoying, tedious chore, but I did so anyway. Perhaps to punish myself for my foolishness.

I had been on a patrol. I had done nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing to instigate the gratuitous attack on my person. Though, I suppose, those mindless cretins simply adored reminding me of how much they despised me. A humorless chuckle escaped my bloodied, torn lips despite the immediate pain it brought with the first mere rumble.

I couldn't very well blame them for the slight. How could I, when I felt the same for them?

I instilled a fear in them that ran deep. Deep enough to turn sour, as it churned in their minds until they could do nothing but loathe.

But that was fine. Let them fear me. They should. No one will find mercy at the end of my blade.

I stopped a moment in my trek to look down at my beaten body. Gingerly, I moved the arm away from my torso, deliberately slow. Blood leaked freely from an open gash across my middle. It was torn into my flesh in thick, jagged lines. My arm shook from the pain. Pathetic really.

I pressed it back over the wound before I moved forward.

Attacking in a horde was already a coward's tactic, and when they had flanked me from the shadows, even more so. A pitiful attempt at a sneak attack. Like I couldn't see. It was laughable.

What I hadn't accounted for, however, was when they had used a human as a shield. A last ditch effort to dissuade me from killing them immediately. And it had worked.

It wasn't any form of compassion that had kept my attack at bay. I simply hadn't wanted to deal with the consequences. Besides, I'd rather die by the hands of those heathens before I allowed that fool Koenma to attempt to confine me to another human city. Nor did I much care for Enki's opinion on the matter. Let them squabble over the punishment for the death of a human. I wanted no part of it.

Pain shot through me like a strike of lightning when a root snagged my foot and caused me to stumble. I bent over, near to heaving. I moved the arm that was wrapped around my stomach to place onto my knees on reflex. The sudden shift had me nearly fainting. I let out a pained groan through gritted teeth that I refused to open. I wouldn't dare allow myself to whine. I forced a gust of air through flared nostrils. It came out shaky.

I was getting soft.

The thought was annoying. Fuck Yusuke and his speeches, Kuwabara and his idiotic idealism, Kurama and his humanity.

Little good their 'friendship' has done me, near dead as I am.

I should have just killed the fools and that human when I'd had the chance. Consequences be damned. Fuck Koenma and Enki... and humans.

I forced myself upright, and managed to keep myself moving. Or rather, I forced my body to move. If it didn't obey me then I would make it bleed.

I needed to get somewhere safe. Somewhere I could heal. The first thought that came to my mind was Kurama. I growled. The rumble made my chest ache.

Kurama was in the human world, humoring that human woman he called his mother. It was a long walk, but I was never one to complain.

I was vaguely aware of the passage of time. Although, I wasn't sure how long I had been walking. The only way I knew I had made it through the barrier into the human world was because I was able to breathe without the stench of death filling my lungs. The smell of the trees was the only thing this pitiful realm had going for it.

Something as simple as an uneven patch of earth was enough to cause my weakened legs to finally give out from under me. I fell to the ground in a bloody heap of torn fabric and grime.

How pathetic was I, that the minor fall was enough to knock the wind out of my chest? I heaved on the ground, but I could get no air.

I tried to move, but it seemed as though my body had finally reached its limit.

I lay there motionless. I was too tired to waste what little energy I had left on fruitless attempts to get back up.

Carefully, I angled my head to look down at my injuries. I was bleeding from several puncture wounds in my flesh that riddled my legs and arms. Useless limbs. If my body couldn't survive something like this, then I deserved to die.

My only regret is that I had to do so in the damn human world, of all places.

I allowed my head to rest back against the patchy grass and dirt, as I laid myself out on my back. It felt heavy, like lead.

How long I had lain there, I couldn't say. The sun's rays tried to find me through the trees, but their foliage blocked them, shadows swaying. The trees stood tall, like silent watchdogs. The only witnesses to my slow demise.

That is, until I heard a faint sound. It sounded like a gasp.

With what little control I had over my body, I tensed. I heard hesitant footsteps coming closer to me, and I rolled onto my side so I could better see my potential assailant. I readied myself. If they were foolish enough to get close, then I would take them out right along with me. But when I saw it, my tension lessened.

It was a human. A woman. I could sense her feeble energy flickering in distress. Disgusting.

I let out a feral growl. Hopefully that would be enough to scare it away. The last thing I wanted to do was deal with a damn human before I died. I'd had enough of them already.

She stopped moving, but didn't run away. My eyes were beginning to fail me. I could only see a mere hazy silhouette of her form.

"Is someone there?" A soft voice called out.

I wanted to tell her to go the hell away, but I could do little more than groan.

The silhouette began to move forward once more. Closer and closer, until I felt the dirt shift near me. The next growl I had on my tongue faded into a groan when the stupid woman walked into me. Her feet colliding with my injured diaphragm.

When I heard another gasp, I inwardly sneered.

She was the one gasping like a fish out of water? I was the one who'd just gotten kicked.

She slowly lowered herself to her knees, feeling around with arms outstretched. They groped me, but I could do little to stop it. I let out a weak growl. It sounded pathetic to my ears.

The next sound that came from her sounded strained. Like a gasp or a grunt. I screwed my eyes up tightly when her hand pressed into the large gash on my torso, gnashing my teeth together so hard I heard the grind.

What the hell was with this stupid human woman? Fumbling around as if in the dark.

"You're hurt," she said.

I growled again. Bared my teeth. I felt my eyes dilate in my irritation. However, none of this seemed to faze her. She just continued to feel my wounded skin.

"Very badly." Her voice was so soft. It was as if she spoke any louder, she might break. I quickly decided I hated it.

I managed to lift my head up enough to glare at her face. Though as soon as I did, my attention was caught by her eyes.

Up close I could see them. They were pointed in my direction, but they saw nothing, shrouded as they were with a dull, cloudy gray. I watched them move, left to right, but they could not focus.

This woman was blind.

This revelation momentarily shocked me. Though after a moment, I recollected myself to glare.

"Hold on," she said, as she stood up carefully. I watched her turn around and slowly meander through the dense trees. Before long, I was alone once more.

I idly entertained the thought of what her reaction would be if I died before she returned. It humored me, if only for a moment.

It didn't take her long to return, however, and once she did, I noticed she was carrying a bucket in her arms. The way I heard it slosh sounded like water.

Was she going to try to clean my wounds? How... quaint.

She lowered herself next to me, and fumbled around until her hands found their way back to my worst injury. She pressed cloth to the wound.

"Can you put pressure on it?"

I made no effort to reply. The idea of a human saving my life was enough to make me want to vomit. A feeble human woman no less.

I had to give her some credit, at least. How she had managed not to get lost in a forest with her weakness was worthy of some small amount of praise.

When I showed no ability to be able to do as she asked, she moved forward, applying the necessary pressure with her knees. It was painful, but I didn't bother to move.

She lifted her hands to search for the bucket she had placed by her side, and dipped another piece of cloth in it. She then started to clean the cuts and punctures on my arms.

"You poor thing. Who did this to you?"

I scoffed at the sentiment. It sounded contrived and disgusting to my ears. If she was going to annoy me with her presence, she didn't have to torture me with her words too.

Her hands stiffened against me. I could feel them go tense. After a moment, she continued to slowly wipe at the blood on my arms.

"I guess you didn't like that."

I eyed her. She wasn't anything particularly noteworthy. Her long, black hair fell over her shoulders in straight strands. Bangs fell messy into her eyes, but I suppose that hardly mattered.

Her skin was horribly pale. It looked white against the blue fabric she was wearing.

When she finished with my arms, she slowly felt her way to my torso. She dabbed carefully at my chest.

"I don't blame you. I don't like it either."

My gaze narrowed. I stayed silent; not bothering with another growl or groan.

She didn't berate me for my silence, and seemed content with her one-sided conversation. It was when she moved her knees to get to my fatal wound that I let in a more strained breath.

"This one hurts the most," she muttered, more to herself it seemed.

She first cleaned it, then reached into the front layers of her robe to pull out a small jar. I watched her screw off the cap with apprehension. She then lowered her hands to me. I felt her palm slide against my skin until it found its target. When she moved her other hand, one which she had smeared whatever it was that was in that jar across her fingers, I flinched away from her.

"Please, you'll only make it worse for yourself." When I yet again moved away from her hand, I heard her sigh. "If you could suffer through the pain you had when you got yourself these injuries from whatever foolish thing you did, then you can deal with the pain it'll take to heal them." Her voice had lost some of its brittle softness to be replaced with a more forced, mild irritation.

I bristled at the comment, but I could not shake the small pang of... defeated embarrassment that rose up inside me. The next time she moved her hand to my wound, I didn't shy away. I felt irritatingly resigned to my fate. ...Annoying human woman.

When she did swipe at my deep gashes, I inhaled sharply. My eyes widened, and I gnashed my teeth together to distract myself. It stung worse than a swarm of several thousand hornets. I imagine if I had been stung by nothing short of a million of them, it would probably feel something akin to this.

Was she trying to kill me? Because if she was, she could have just left me in the dirt. It would have been a far more merciful death.

"It's a... potent ointment," she said, as if I had spoken my thoughts aloud. Though I guess I didn't actually need to speak for my discomfort to be largely apparent, considering the way my body jerked.

It took a long time for the sting to subside, or maybe I had just adjusted to it. She was in the process of bandaging my wound when I was finally able to focus my vision from seeing double.

"Could you lift up just a bit? I need to wrap this or it'll get infected."

I made no move to do such a thing. I had gone through plenty enough of her torture to satisfy her.

She let out another sigh. "Fine," she said, wedging the roll of bandages between my body and the ground. "But if I come back, and find that it's infected, you best not complain when I use that ointment again."

That certainly got my attention. When she went to wrap the bandages around my stomach a second time, I lifted my side off the ground enough to allow her to do it easily.

I saw her smile, and it made my eye twitch involuntarily. "Wise decision," she said in amusement.

It didn't take her very long with my forced cooperation. After she was finished, she sat back. "That's all I can do for you for now."

Thank anything holy for that small miracle. I'd had just about enough of her 'help.'

"But I'll come back to check on you-"

And I let out a long, drawn-out, raspy groan.

She laughed heartily, clearly not offended at all by my dread. The sound was as dainty and feminine as she looked.

She tried to look at my face, but her gaze missed me entirely. "Try not to move around too much. You might tear the bandages."

I let out a dismissive humph before I rolled gingerly onto my back. Whether or not I did so in a small display of rebellion, I wasn't entirely sure. I decided it was because I just preferred this position to lying on my side. Doing so out of defiance was childish and beneath me.

I didn't bother to see whether or not she noticed. I closed my eyes and allowed my exhaustion to take over. I quickly drifted off to sleep.

AN:

So like, I was kind of hesitant to write this at first. Mostly because I'm trying to tackle a pretty big writing project already. This one, though, I wanted to make a little shorter.

Interestingly enough, even with my initial reluctance, this story was super fun to write. Once I started, I just rolled with it. It splattered all over my word document like it just owned the page. Maybe I just like writing Hiei, I dunno. Haha.

But yeah, this story is going to be my second attempt at a story in the first person. However, it is going to be entirely Hiei's POV. I decided to give that a try. I like it so far. What about you guys?

Reviews are absolutely adored.