The demons in their group were all packed up and ready to go in front of Alaric Castle. The hippogriffs they were to climb upon were all pawing at the ground in their impatience. Kurama watched Yasha approach him, giving him yet another grumpy kiss goodbye. He was still salty about having to stay behind with Prince Takashi. Yasha kissed him, holding him close. He tapped his shoulder twice, getting Yasha to let him go.
"Don't have more fun than me," Yasha told him cheekily.
Kurama gave him a flirtatious smile and shrugged. "That would ruin my plan," he answered back. He could tell all the shinobi, Princess Hikari, and even Hiei very much so wanted to take out Maeshu. Even knowing all that, he still wanted a piece of her for what she intended to do to Izo.
Yasha stepped away and stood at the stairway in front of the castle. Nanashi was standing there, holding her arms out to Kotone who was holding her baby, Koji. Kotone looked forlorn, passing the sleeping baby on to her. Her hands were moving rapidly, but she was too far away for Kurama to make out her sign language. Nanashi nodded, saying something softly in a soothing tone. Kotone bent down and kissed her son once before turning away. A few stray tear gems fell from her face.
She stepped down from the stairs and over to Izo who stood with their hippogriffs. She leaned against him, looking back over at Nanashi and Koji. She turned back to her hippogriff, mounting it with Izo's help. Izo mounted his own stead in turn next to her. Hiei and the three remaining shinobi demons mounted their hippogriffs, more than ready to go. Kurama jumped on his as well.
Kurama looked over at Prince Takashi and Princess Hikari standing close to her own stead. The prince was crying softly to himself while the princess looked a bit annoyed. "You will be fine without me," she emphasized each word slowly as she spoke.
His upper lip was trembling and he hung his head as he shook. Kurama noticed Hiei was watching the scene as well, critical look in his eyes. The others were, too. Demons were rarely used to showing emotions as openly as elves did.
Prince Takashi shook his head. "I..." his upper lip trembled. "I... www wrote you... something," his breathing shook. He passed her a folded up piece of paper. Hikari watched him, not moving to comfort him. Elves certainly did wear their hearts on their sleeves. Kurama knew that well enough from being with Yasha all these years.
"What is it?" she asked, taking the paper and unfolding it. He did not answer, wiping at his eyes. She looked down at the paper, reading from it out loud. "My angel, my love, my life. Your eyes are like beautiful pools of sunset / They shine with the blaze of a thousand suns / Your smile radiates / Shines over my memories / Your..." she stopped, folding the paper back up and blushing. "This is not appropriate," she grumbled, looking up at him with a mix of annoyance and love. She folded the paper into a small square before shoving it deeply in her pocket for safe keeping. "We've talked about this..." she grumbled.
"You said you liked it..." he petered out.
"Not written down. You're the crown prince. This could get seen and kept by historians or something to come..." she said, flushed.
Prince Takashi shook his head. "I'll write you one everyday your gone," he swore.
"I don't know if that's necessary..." she said. She rose up on the balls of her feet, kissing and hugging him. He whimpered as she did so. "Help me up, okay," she asked, taking him by the hand towards her hippogriff. He helped her up, leaning against her leg and whimpering. "I'll be back sooner than you think. I love you," she said shyly.
Prince Takashi sucked down a few breaths before blurting out, "I love you too, my angel." Then he turned and ran back to the castle in a huff before anyone could stop him. Kurama saw Yasha sigh exasperatedly before going into the castle himself after the prince.
"How old is he again?" Airi asked shortly from astride her hippogriff. Princess Hikari cut her a sharp look. Airi huffed over at her. "What?" she asked haughtily.
Kurama spoke up, derailing the conversation. "Elves tend to carry their hearts on their sleeves, and he can be rather sensitive at times," he explained. "They are still newly weds and have not be separated before."
Airi clicked her teeth, not commenting further. Thankfully, neither did Princess Hikari. The two of them were going to have to share a tent together with Kotone as they traveled. Without much more delay, the lot of them heading off into the forest.
They made good time through the woods, with Hiei taking the lead with Kurama right behind him. Touya was in the back, watching the rear. Izo rode between Kotone and Princess Hikari while Airi rode next to Haru. Kurama sensed a bit of tension with the younger ones in their group, but it lessened as Princess Hikari and Izo filled up their day's journey with a plethora of catching up conversations. The two spoke rapidly with each other, taking strolls down their shared memory lane together. Kurama smiled to himself hearing it. Hiei seemed to like what he was hearing as well.
The hours of traveling went well, but after they stopped for the evening, things did get a little hairy. After settling down to eat a camp fire cooked meal, the three tents were set up, each could only fit three people in them at the most. Kotone made to settle into a tent next to Izo, but Hiei stopped, shaking his head at her. Kurama was close enough to see her hands moving, reading what she was signing, surprised he could pick up on what she was saying after not really using sign language in years. 'I thought Izo and I, together?'
Hiei shook his head once more. "The women share together. Kurama and I together. The shinobi men together."
Kotone shook her head again, frowning at him. 'I don't know...' she pointed over to Princess Hikari and Airi. Izo had stepped over to stand with them by Kotone. Kurama stepped over to stand by Hiei.
"You can get to know them," Hiei said. Kurama noticed he was reading Kotone's lips rather than hands as she mouthed the words she signed.
Kotone looked up at Izo expectantly. Izo looked back at his father. "Father, two people are going to have to share anyway. She's comfortable with me, and she's been through a lot. It won't hurt anything."
"You're not sharing with her," Hiei said shortly. "This isn't the castle where there was an abundance of space. Out here we're limited."
Kotone looked upset. Kurama stepped in, explaining more. "We can't have men share with women, it would be inappropriate. The women must share. Then the shinobi men. Then Hiei and myself. No more than three can fit in a tent. If we had a one more tent, it could be possible. You both will need to manage being separated only at night in tents right next to each other rather than miles and miles apart like the others of us separated from our significant others back at Alaric Castle."
Kotone still looked displeased about not getting her way, but Izo seemed to empathize. He moved his hands, signing and speaking at the same time. "He's right. We will be nearby. We can get a new tent in the demon tribes area."
Kotone said nothing in response, but remained looking cross for the remainder of the evening, refusing to engage with anyone beyond necessary, including Izo, who looked wounded by her actions.
