The night was as loud as ever for Hyakkimaru. He could hear the wind howling, the animals stalking at night, the beating of an owl's wings. He hated the noise, but not as much as what had happened the night before.
Dororo kept the flames burning at the fire pit as he looked over at Hyakkimaru who was lying on his side with his ears covered.
"You really need to get use to sound, Aniki."
That was when Dororo saw the frown on Hyakkimaru's and the sadness in his prosthetic eyes.
"Aniki, what's wrong?"
"...Mio..." sighed Hyakkimaru.
"Oh..." said Dororo sadly.
"Mio." said Hyakkimaru once more.
"Is that all you can say? We need to get you saying more words than that."
It probably wasn't the best thing to say at that moment. That was when Dororo saw the tears in Hyakkimaru's eyes as he was trying to stifle a sob.
Dororo walked over to Hyakkimaru and sighed.
"I know how you feel." said Dororo, "When my parents died, it felt like my world was falling apart. It's hard to lose someone you love, but death is inevitable. All we can do is remember them in this lifetime."
Hyakkimaru got up, wrapped his prosthetic arms around Dororo as he sobbed.
"MIO!"
Dororo wrapped his arms around Hyakkimaru to comfort him as he too started to cry.