Southern Fried

AN: Slightly AU. Hiei is 5'5" for the purposes of this story. And the misspellings and bad grammer when my OC talks is on purpose, to really bring her accent to life.

Team Urameshi was gathered in Yusuke's house, relaxing for a bit after their latest mission to save the world.

"All I'm saying is, maybe we didn't have to kill the guy, he was just confused." Kuwabara said.

Yusuke raised an eyebrow. "Kuwabara, he was sending unmarked packages to humans with leech demons inside of them. I think that was pretty on purpose. Raising some kittens does not make him a confused good guy."

"And did you really have to take them to Demon World? I could of taken them," the carrot-top whined.

"They were demon kittens! They would have ripped your face off! And thanks, Hiei, for taking them yourself."

"Don't thank me. Leaving them here would just have created a bigger mess for me to clean up." Hiei said tonelessly.

All of a sudden he looked towards the window, concentrating hard. He straightened from where he was leaning against the wall and walked towards the door.

"Yo, Hiei... What's the matter?" Yusuke asked.

"You don't hear that?" Hiei replied, sounding dazed. "I have to find out what it is."

Yusuke frowned and listened. As a matter of fact, he could hear something. A violin playing a march. It was compelling. Kurama cocked his head.

"I hear something too." He said. The redhead got up and stood near the window. For some reason, the tune invaded his brain, pushing out all other thoughts. His legs suddenly felt restless, like he needed to be moving. Kurama pushed the feeling down, uneasy.

Kuwabara dug around in his ear and strained really hard to catch what the others were hearing. "I don't hear anything guys. Are you sure it's not just your ears ringing?"

"No Kuwabara, I hear something," Yusuke said, "It's really faint, but I hear it."

Hiei narrowed his eyes at the Spirit Detective. "What? It's loud. Very loud."

"It's faint to me too, Yusuke," Kurama said.

Hiei rolled his eyes. Something was compelling him to find out what this was. He opened the door and flashed out.

"Hiei wait!" Kurama called. "Where are you going?" He ran out after the black haired demon. Yusuke and Kuwabara looked at each other then ran out after the other two.

The song wrapped around Hiei's mind. It led him down the street, through the park and into the woods. Now that he was closer, he could sense an energy behind it. Belatedly, he realized he was probably falling into a trap. That was when something snagged his foot, yanking him skyward. A rope snaked around his body, trapping his hands away from his katana. He hung there upside down. Flexing against the rope was no good. It was too tight. The music stopped, and he was met with silence. He tried to use his power against the rope but was repelled back with a harsh sting

It was a spirit bond. He was trapped.

"Well, well, well.. looky here..." A girl said.

Hiei whipped his head around to the direction of the voice and saw her come out of the brush. She had a crossbow in hand, cocked and ready. She was wearing beat up cowboy boots, faded jeans, a plaid long-sleeve button down shirt, and a ratty cowboy hat. Her brown hair fell in waves to her chest.

"I come all th' way out here to catch me a squirrel, and I gets a skunk." She drawled and poked the front of Hiei's hair with her crossbow bolt. He growled. Who was this woman? Calling him a skunk?!

"Now, now, there sugar, don't get all fretted out. I promise I'll be makin' this quick." She smiled and aimed her crossbow right between his eyes. Hiei glared at her in angry shock, his lip curling back.

"Hey! Stop!" Yusuke jumped through the underbrush, finger leading the way and glowing blue. Kurama followed, flicking his whip. Kuwabara has his Spirit Sword out and ready.

The cowgirl jumped back and swung her crossbow to point at the new boys.

"Who are you and why do you have our friend tied up?" Yusuke yelled.

She lowered her crossbow an inch. "Your friend?" She looked between Hiei and the others. "Now, I'm guessin' ya'll know about them supernatural stuffs and such with your glowing fingers, glowing swords and whatnot.." She paused. "So you know this trussed up barbecue offering is a demon right?"

"Yes, we are quite aware, miss." Kurama said. "Why do you want Hiei?"

She lowered her crossbow all the way and looked at the, incredulous. "Did yall not just hear me? He is a DEMON. DE. MON. What else is there to do with 'em besides keepin' them away from humans? All demons want is human souls and flesh. They're parasites!"

"One could say the same of you humans, fool." Hiei bit out.

She pointed her crossbow back at the demon's head. "Now I don't really think you're in any position to give me any lip there, sugar. You best be keepin' your lying tongue behind those teeth."

"Excuse me, miss?" Kurama stepped forward. He raised his hands in surrender as the cowgirl aimed her bolt at his head. "I believe you have been misguided. This demon is actually on the good side."

Her eyes narrowed. "Come again?"

"You see, Yusuke Urameshi-" Kurama pointed to him "-Is what's called a Spirit Detective."

Yusuke nodded. "Yea, I fight for the world, save it, kill evil, all that fun stuff. And Hiei here works with me. So how about you walk your crap stained boots over there and unite him?!"

The girl studied each of them in turn. "Ya know, now that I'm paying more attention, you boys got some wierd vibes. Well, all except carrot-top there." She gestured to Kuwabara. "You two aren't all human."

"That's right lady." Yusuke said. He channeled more energy into his finger. "All I'll bet you're not nearly as strong as all of us. So how about you untie Hiei now?"

She stood there for a few moments, contemplating. She sighed, annoyed. "A girl can see when she's outnumbered, and this 'un wasn't what I was huntin' anyways." She set her crossbow down and turned to Hiei. "I'm lettin' you down now, against my better judgement. Don't go makin' me right and attack me once yer free, ya hear?"

Hiei glared and fidgeted in the restraints. "I don't take orders from anyone, human."

She cocked an eyebrow and looked to the boys.

Kurama leveled a serious look on Hiei. "He won't do anything. Now let him down."

The girl sighed again and held her hand out towards the rope. It wiggled and snaked away from Hiei's body, looping around the girls hand. Hiei dropped unceremoniously to the ground. As he was shooting up, a murderous look on his face. Yusuke jumped forward and grabbed his shoulder. The fire demon snarled at the detective and wrenched his shoulder away.

The girl had hooked the rope to her belt, and had picked up her crossbow. It was pointed at the boys again. "Now ya'll see here," She said, he voice low. "Keep yer demon pet on 'is leash, and we won't be having any more problems."

Before they could do anything, she whistled through her teeth. The piercing note echoed through the underbrush of the woods and loud crashing noises followed it. A dogs howl rose up. The boys tensed, waiting to see what this was. All of a sudden, a droopy-eared bloodhound and a short, stocky pony crashed through the bushes. The girl jumped on the saddle, grabbing the reins. The pony threw up his head and whinnied, rearing a bit. A fiddle case was attached to the back of the saddle. The dog faced the boys, hackles up, growling.

"Ol' Boy! Heel!"

The hound backed up slowly, still growling low, his fur still on end. The girl tipped her hat. "Evenin' boys. It's been mighty fine."

Slapping the reins against the pony's flank, she shouted "Yee-haw!". The pony jumped, the dog following, and with a flash of purple energy, they promptly disappeared.

Kuwabara lowered his sword. "Whoa! Who WAS she?!"

Yusuke lowered his finger. "I don't know, but I think we need to talk to Koenma."

"So you're telling me, some cowgirl managed to tie up Hiei, spoke about killing demons, then disappeared on a horse with a dog?" Koenma asked. He and Botan met the boys at Yusuke's house. His mom was probably out drinking.

"That about sums it up." Yusuke said.

Koemna acted like he was holding back laughter. "She managed to trap HIEI?"

The demon in question gritted his teeth. "Shut up!"

"Sorry, Hiei, it's just too funny!" The toddler ruler of Spirit World bubbled up with mirth.

Yusuke jumped up. "Koemna this is serious! She tried to kill Hiei! And she managed to sense that me and Kurama aren't all human."

Koemna put a hand on his chin. "Hmm... there has been a slight increase in demons being found and killed in the area over the past two weeks... I had assumed it was you four."

"It's not us," Kurama said. "And right before the incident, Hiei, Yusuke and I heard music playing. There was a slight compulsion on us. I only heard it softly, as did Yusuke, but Hiei said it was loud. Isn't that right Hiei?"

"Yes, that's right." Hiei spoke. "That fool of a human-"

"It was probably a demon lure." Botan interrupted, ignoring Hiei's glare. "Previous Spirit Detectives have used them before. It's like the whistle, but with enough Spirit Energy you could attach it to any sound, really."

"So that's why Kurama and I didn't hear it so well, since we're not all demon" Yusuke mused.

"Precisely!"

Hiei stood up. "So are we going to hunt down this human or what?!"

"Actually Hiei, you're not." Koenma said. "She's a human, so we can't do anything. If she was killing humans with her powers, that would be a different story. But since demons aren't supposed to be in the Human World, I can't do anything legally, even though she tried to kill one of my team."

"Hn." Hiei said.

Koenma turned to the fire demon. "And you cannot go off on your own and hunt down this human. I'll have to put you in Spirit World jail if you do!"

"Fine!" Hiei spat out. "But if she comes near me again I WILL kill her!"

The girl in question reappeared in the mountains beside a small camp. There was a tent, a stone ringed fire pit, and bulging pack. She dismounted, stroking her pony's neck.

"Good boy, Dazzle. Good boy. Now, let's git this saddle off'a ya."

The hound whined and scratched in the dirt.

"Hold on there, Ol' Boy. I ain't forgot 'bout you."

Whuffing softly, the dog turned around three times and flopped down, letting out a huge sigh.

The girl chuckled and untacked her pony swiftly. After taking the bridle off, the pony tossed his head and nudged her pockets. She smiled, pulled out a small carrot and gave it to him.

Sighing, she then turned to her pack, brought out a lighter and a small box of tinder. After her small fire was going, she sat down, arms around her knees. The dog belly crawled over, nudging his head under her arm. She absentmidedly played with the hounds ears as his tail thumped the dirt.

"Well boys," She spoke softly. "We ain't any closer to the goal. That summabitch is one squirrely demon."

END CHAPTER 1

Thanks for reading! Sorry for the slow start, I always have problems starting off stories. And the chapters will get longer, think of this as a prologue of sorts. :) Constructive flames are welcome! Review! Review!