Author's note: Hiei and Yukina's age will be addressed soon, no worries :)
**
Time passed in a blur, mostly filled with darkness that was occasionally interrupted by a quick light or the muted sound of someone's voice. He could never understand what they were saying to him, and he certainly couldn't respond, even if he'd wanted to. His mind had stopped long ago attempting to will his body to react, because he knew now that it just wouldn't. He had no idea how long he'd been floating in this dark haze. The world around him seemed to have disappeared, without any signs of reappearing, and he felt lost in thick fog, so thick that he couldn't even feel the ground beneath his feet and for all he knew he could be falling instead of walking.
From time to time the haze around him grew warm and he'd find his body reacting by curling tighter and trying to hide from the heat, even though it was coming from inside of him. And every now and then he swore he'd actually opened his eyes and seen his sister, his mother or some other stranger watching him sleep. But those couldn't be real. Most likely it was just his mind trying to offer his body some sort of comfort through the pain it was suffering. He knew he was sick, he wasn't stupid. So he wasn't about to be fooled by something that could easily cause hallucinations and temperature change. No, he was sick, and would just have to wait until his body got better… if it did.
The heat hit him hard then, rocketing through his body like a sheer physical force. He felt like he was burning from the inside out, which was the most unpleasant feeling in spite of his powers over fire. Heat curled up and locked around him, suffocating him until he could barely move and his mouth hung open, gasping for breath through a throat that felt like it had been covered in gravel and sharp rocks.
It hurt too much, and he wanted to get away. He wanted to get away so much that his body did actually start to respond to him, and he felt himself jerking about as he tried to gain control of his limbs and make an escape. But something grasped his wrists tightly and tucked a thick blanket close around him. More heat, piled on top of the warmth that was already flowing through his body. He couldn't handle it, but he also knew now he couldn't fight it.
Sweat soaked him, covering the thick blankets tucked around his body. He felt his skin was red, due to the heat, and the air smelled thick of some potent smoke and a few lightheaded herbs. The energy seemed to leak out of him and he just lay there, his mind too exhausted to care about how hot it was anymore.
His eyes fluttered for a second, and he managed to make out something with his hazy vision. He was in a dark place, no sunlight anywhere in the vicinity. A candle was lit off to the side, providing a little light in the room, at least enough for him to focus by and make out a few details.
Someone sat across from him, watching him silently as they attended to a warm wet cloth which was placed over his forehead. His eyes wouldn't stay focused long enough, so he couldn't tell who or what type of demon this being was.
But he could see the dark red hair. And he could see the comforting smile.
The figure smiled softly at him and murmured a few words that were meant to be soothing, even though he couldn't understand them in his sickened state. Still, the words had their desired effect, because he relaxed against the soft surface he was laying on and his eyes slid back shut. Suddenly the heat around him didn't seem quite so bad.
***
Music filled his ears. Soft tones and the steady beat from a small drum echoed through the place where he lay, gently nudging him from sleeping. Hiei opened his eyes to find his vision was no longer hazy, but rather only slightly blurred, and that was cleared up with a few blinkings of his eyes. He still felt a bit lightheaded, but as he sat up his body started to ground again, realizing it could move.
Careful movements, which were painstakingly slow, brought him to the edge of the bed, until he jumped down and swayed a bit. But a few seconds later he found he was able to stand with only a minimum of help from the wall next to him. His legs still held his weight and he didn't feel too weak to move.
The music was still there, now playing louder from outside of the cart he found himself to be in. Accompanied with it he could hear clapping and cheers along with the small twinkling of bells, just faintly hidden amongst the other sounds.
Someone was outside dancing?
He frowned and made his way to the door, pushing it open slowly. He knew he wasn't at home, that was simple enough, but he didn't even recognize the area the cart was sitting in. The trees were too thick, too old, to be in any area around where he was from. The cart he was in must have traveled a couple days distance at least while he was sick. The sky overhead was dark, but the moon and stars shone brightly, illuminating the area around him for his sore eyes. It didn't take long for him to make out a camp fire not too far from the cart, with a host of figures sitting around it. A path behind them led back to what he guessed was a town.
And then there was the one dancing…
Hiei stopped near the tree, resting his hand against it, and just stood there. He had enough energy to move closer, but he just didn't feel like moving at that moment. Rather, all he felt like doing was watching this strange being dance.
The dancer was most definitely male, though he wore something that resembled women's clothing as his body moved to the music. Flowing garments of different shades of green created a skirt and a light top, while another was in his hands, flowing through the air to shadow and accentuate his movements. His eyes were closed as his body swayed and careful steps were taken. It wasn't a practiced dance, but rather he was letting the music travel completely through him, just moving to the music as he felt it. The movements alone would have looked slow and jerky and very uncoordinated. But in the firelight, with the soft flute and drums, and the twinkling of the bells attached to one of his ankles, it all seemed perfect together.
The male dancer looked familiar to Hiei, and upon closer inspection he found the same shade of red hair and a hint of the same comforting smile. So whoever this stranger was, they were the one he'd woken up to taking care of him. He wanted to glance around the small camp, and try to figure out how he'd gotten here and where his sister was, but Hiei honestly couldn't take his eyes off the figure dancing. Something about those movements was mesmerizing, and he wasn't the only one caught.
All the men around the camp fire also watched the dancer move. One sat, playing a small drum he'd brought with him, while the other played the flute, both obviously not from the same region as the dancer. Hiei guessed that all the men were from the local town, and whoever the dancer was, he'd stopped there for the night to provide some entertainment and perhaps get a little food out of it, or perhaps some money. Travelers like that weren't rare in the Makai, in fact the idea of living on the road had always appealed to Hiei, but he'd never given into the temptation because he wouldn't dream of leaving his sister.
The red head, human-looking, dancer came to a stop, his graceful movements closing in what seemed like a natural end. The drums and the flute stopped a moment later, leaving the vibrations of the sound to fade into the night. Hiei watched, holding his breath, as the dancer made a few more graceful movements, then ended in an elaborate bow. The red head stopped dancing then and stood up, smiling at the men around the camp fire, effectively breaking the trace he'd brought on.
It took a moment, but soon the men were clapping and expressing their like of the show. Hiei watched as one of the larger men decided he liked the show so much, he stood up to personally thank the dancer, by pulling him close into a very unwelcome kiss.
"Now, now, boys." The voice came from a tree nearby and Hiei instinctively stepped back to hide himself as another form stepped out. This one wore a simple pair of black pants that were cut to show off a line of skin down his legs. He wore no shirt, and his bat-shaped wings stood out against his otherwise pale skin. Long black hair flowed around his body, not pulled back in any way it made it's own natural shirt, hiding just enough from view to make one curious.
"Kurama here does the dances, but I do the 'aftershow' entertainment." As the dark haired youkai stepped toward the campfire, Hiei saw the redhead slowly step back and sneak away back toward the cart, somehow managing to stay completely silent in spite of the bells around his ankles.
The other youkai moved into the group and easily sat among the men, striking up conversation mixed with winks and flirtatious looks. Hiei wasn't so young as to not know what was going to happen next, so he decided to not stay and watch. He turned away from the camp fire group and headed, slowly, back toward the wagon he'd woken up in.
As he walked he let his mind wander. He knew he wasn't around home, but he doubted his family would have let him be taken anywhere without them coming along. So perhaps they'd started travelling to find someone to take care of his sickness. That would make perfect sense, and it would explain the strange surroundings and odd people. Perhaps there was another camp fire nearby where his family was sitting and talking for the night, and they'd left him to rest and get his sleep alone. Still… why travel with such a group? Makai roads were dangerous to single travelers, but he was sure that no one would mess with his father, and his mother wasn't nearly as sweet as she looked when threatened, especially when her children were involved.
So then why the wagon? Why the red headed dancer and the other dark haired youkai? Had he stumbled upon another group that was camping nearby? Was the wagon something his parents had borrowed to travel? If so, why would his parents camp so close to-
"Enjoy the show?"
Hiei jumped and froze, the soft voice behind him startling him out of his thoughts. He spun around on instinct, but his body didn't like that. Right away his vision became spotted and the ground seemed to lunge out from under him. One minute he was standing and the next he found himself in someone else's arms.
"Take it easy, you're not well enough to be moving so quickly."
"Let go of me," he muttered gruffly, trying to pull out of the arms. He didn't like others that close to him. Hiei successfully pulled away and stood up, now facing whoever had spoken to him. He wasn't surprised to find it was the red haired dancer, now standing with that same green cloth wrapped around his shoulders to shrug off the chilly night air. The short fire demon took a step back, to put a safe distance between them as he watched the other warily.
"You seem to be feeling a lot better, now that you're up and about." The dancer knelt down so that he was about the same height as Hiei. "You're name's Hiei, right?"
Hiei's eyes narrowed at the dancer lowering to his knees. Was he mocking him because he was so short? He knew fire demons were well known for being tall and lanky with their limbs, well at least they were when they didn't have Koorime mothers. So what? Who cares? He hated it when people mocked him, so he settled for glaring at the person in front of him.
"Who are you? And why am I here?" He demanded sharply, not caring how the dancer reacted to his words.
"You were sick. Your sister asked us to take care of you."
"Where are they? My family."
Hiei watched a wave of sadness cross the dancer's face, and for a moment his eyes seemed to shift to a beautiful gold hue, before sinking back into the deep green. Concern and caring sat on that face, mixing in with the hint of sadness. Hiei frowned, recognizing the look as the same one he got when people found out about his mixed heritage and didn't want to kill him.
Pity.
The only thing he hated worse then being mocked was pity.
His glare intensified and he gave up speaking with the dancer. Walking past him, he headed back for the cart and whatever else lay past it. He'd find his parents on his own. He didn't want anyone's pity and he certainly didn't want help from a mocking dancer who had nothing better to do.
"Hiei, wait."
"Go away. I'll find them on my own."
And with that he completely walked off, leaving the dancer to stand there and silently watch him leave. He didn't need help. He didn't want help. He wasn't going to take any help from anyone. He just wanted to find his family.
Kurama watched him walks away with a soft, yet sad smile, knowing that it wasn't the time to tell Hiei what had happened. He didn't have the heart to tell him. But hopefully his sister, Yukina, could.
**
Time passed in a blur, mostly filled with darkness that was occasionally interrupted by a quick light or the muted sound of someone's voice. He could never understand what they were saying to him, and he certainly couldn't respond, even if he'd wanted to. His mind had stopped long ago attempting to will his body to react, because he knew now that it just wouldn't. He had no idea how long he'd been floating in this dark haze. The world around him seemed to have disappeared, without any signs of reappearing, and he felt lost in thick fog, so thick that he couldn't even feel the ground beneath his feet and for all he knew he could be falling instead of walking.
From time to time the haze around him grew warm and he'd find his body reacting by curling tighter and trying to hide from the heat, even though it was coming from inside of him. And every now and then he swore he'd actually opened his eyes and seen his sister, his mother or some other stranger watching him sleep. But those couldn't be real. Most likely it was just his mind trying to offer his body some sort of comfort through the pain it was suffering. He knew he was sick, he wasn't stupid. So he wasn't about to be fooled by something that could easily cause hallucinations and temperature change. No, he was sick, and would just have to wait until his body got better… if it did.
The heat hit him hard then, rocketing through his body like a sheer physical force. He felt like he was burning from the inside out, which was the most unpleasant feeling in spite of his powers over fire. Heat curled up and locked around him, suffocating him until he could barely move and his mouth hung open, gasping for breath through a throat that felt like it had been covered in gravel and sharp rocks.
It hurt too much, and he wanted to get away. He wanted to get away so much that his body did actually start to respond to him, and he felt himself jerking about as he tried to gain control of his limbs and make an escape. But something grasped his wrists tightly and tucked a thick blanket close around him. More heat, piled on top of the warmth that was already flowing through his body. He couldn't handle it, but he also knew now he couldn't fight it.
Sweat soaked him, covering the thick blankets tucked around his body. He felt his skin was red, due to the heat, and the air smelled thick of some potent smoke and a few lightheaded herbs. The energy seemed to leak out of him and he just lay there, his mind too exhausted to care about how hot it was anymore.
His eyes fluttered for a second, and he managed to make out something with his hazy vision. He was in a dark place, no sunlight anywhere in the vicinity. A candle was lit off to the side, providing a little light in the room, at least enough for him to focus by and make out a few details.
Someone sat across from him, watching him silently as they attended to a warm wet cloth which was placed over his forehead. His eyes wouldn't stay focused long enough, so he couldn't tell who or what type of demon this being was.
But he could see the dark red hair. And he could see the comforting smile.
The figure smiled softly at him and murmured a few words that were meant to be soothing, even though he couldn't understand them in his sickened state. Still, the words had their desired effect, because he relaxed against the soft surface he was laying on and his eyes slid back shut. Suddenly the heat around him didn't seem quite so bad.
***
Music filled his ears. Soft tones and the steady beat from a small drum echoed through the place where he lay, gently nudging him from sleeping. Hiei opened his eyes to find his vision was no longer hazy, but rather only slightly blurred, and that was cleared up with a few blinkings of his eyes. He still felt a bit lightheaded, but as he sat up his body started to ground again, realizing it could move.
Careful movements, which were painstakingly slow, brought him to the edge of the bed, until he jumped down and swayed a bit. But a few seconds later he found he was able to stand with only a minimum of help from the wall next to him. His legs still held his weight and he didn't feel too weak to move.
The music was still there, now playing louder from outside of the cart he found himself to be in. Accompanied with it he could hear clapping and cheers along with the small twinkling of bells, just faintly hidden amongst the other sounds.
Someone was outside dancing?
He frowned and made his way to the door, pushing it open slowly. He knew he wasn't at home, that was simple enough, but he didn't even recognize the area the cart was sitting in. The trees were too thick, too old, to be in any area around where he was from. The cart he was in must have traveled a couple days distance at least while he was sick. The sky overhead was dark, but the moon and stars shone brightly, illuminating the area around him for his sore eyes. It didn't take long for him to make out a camp fire not too far from the cart, with a host of figures sitting around it. A path behind them led back to what he guessed was a town.
And then there was the one dancing…
Hiei stopped near the tree, resting his hand against it, and just stood there. He had enough energy to move closer, but he just didn't feel like moving at that moment. Rather, all he felt like doing was watching this strange being dance.
The dancer was most definitely male, though he wore something that resembled women's clothing as his body moved to the music. Flowing garments of different shades of green created a skirt and a light top, while another was in his hands, flowing through the air to shadow and accentuate his movements. His eyes were closed as his body swayed and careful steps were taken. It wasn't a practiced dance, but rather he was letting the music travel completely through him, just moving to the music as he felt it. The movements alone would have looked slow and jerky and very uncoordinated. But in the firelight, with the soft flute and drums, and the twinkling of the bells attached to one of his ankles, it all seemed perfect together.
The male dancer looked familiar to Hiei, and upon closer inspection he found the same shade of red hair and a hint of the same comforting smile. So whoever this stranger was, they were the one he'd woken up to taking care of him. He wanted to glance around the small camp, and try to figure out how he'd gotten here and where his sister was, but Hiei honestly couldn't take his eyes off the figure dancing. Something about those movements was mesmerizing, and he wasn't the only one caught.
All the men around the camp fire also watched the dancer move. One sat, playing a small drum he'd brought with him, while the other played the flute, both obviously not from the same region as the dancer. Hiei guessed that all the men were from the local town, and whoever the dancer was, he'd stopped there for the night to provide some entertainment and perhaps get a little food out of it, or perhaps some money. Travelers like that weren't rare in the Makai, in fact the idea of living on the road had always appealed to Hiei, but he'd never given into the temptation because he wouldn't dream of leaving his sister.
The red head, human-looking, dancer came to a stop, his graceful movements closing in what seemed like a natural end. The drums and the flute stopped a moment later, leaving the vibrations of the sound to fade into the night. Hiei watched, holding his breath, as the dancer made a few more graceful movements, then ended in an elaborate bow. The red head stopped dancing then and stood up, smiling at the men around the camp fire, effectively breaking the trace he'd brought on.
It took a moment, but soon the men were clapping and expressing their like of the show. Hiei watched as one of the larger men decided he liked the show so much, he stood up to personally thank the dancer, by pulling him close into a very unwelcome kiss.
"Now, now, boys." The voice came from a tree nearby and Hiei instinctively stepped back to hide himself as another form stepped out. This one wore a simple pair of black pants that were cut to show off a line of skin down his legs. He wore no shirt, and his bat-shaped wings stood out against his otherwise pale skin. Long black hair flowed around his body, not pulled back in any way it made it's own natural shirt, hiding just enough from view to make one curious.
"Kurama here does the dances, but I do the 'aftershow' entertainment." As the dark haired youkai stepped toward the campfire, Hiei saw the redhead slowly step back and sneak away back toward the cart, somehow managing to stay completely silent in spite of the bells around his ankles.
The other youkai moved into the group and easily sat among the men, striking up conversation mixed with winks and flirtatious looks. Hiei wasn't so young as to not know what was going to happen next, so he decided to not stay and watch. He turned away from the camp fire group and headed, slowly, back toward the wagon he'd woken up in.
As he walked he let his mind wander. He knew he wasn't around home, but he doubted his family would have let him be taken anywhere without them coming along. So perhaps they'd started travelling to find someone to take care of his sickness. That would make perfect sense, and it would explain the strange surroundings and odd people. Perhaps there was another camp fire nearby where his family was sitting and talking for the night, and they'd left him to rest and get his sleep alone. Still… why travel with such a group? Makai roads were dangerous to single travelers, but he was sure that no one would mess with his father, and his mother wasn't nearly as sweet as she looked when threatened, especially when her children were involved.
So then why the wagon? Why the red headed dancer and the other dark haired youkai? Had he stumbled upon another group that was camping nearby? Was the wagon something his parents had borrowed to travel? If so, why would his parents camp so close to-
"Enjoy the show?"
Hiei jumped and froze, the soft voice behind him startling him out of his thoughts. He spun around on instinct, but his body didn't like that. Right away his vision became spotted and the ground seemed to lunge out from under him. One minute he was standing and the next he found himself in someone else's arms.
"Take it easy, you're not well enough to be moving so quickly."
"Let go of me," he muttered gruffly, trying to pull out of the arms. He didn't like others that close to him. Hiei successfully pulled away and stood up, now facing whoever had spoken to him. He wasn't surprised to find it was the red haired dancer, now standing with that same green cloth wrapped around his shoulders to shrug off the chilly night air. The short fire demon took a step back, to put a safe distance between them as he watched the other warily.
"You seem to be feeling a lot better, now that you're up and about." The dancer knelt down so that he was about the same height as Hiei. "You're name's Hiei, right?"
Hiei's eyes narrowed at the dancer lowering to his knees. Was he mocking him because he was so short? He knew fire demons were well known for being tall and lanky with their limbs, well at least they were when they didn't have Koorime mothers. So what? Who cares? He hated it when people mocked him, so he settled for glaring at the person in front of him.
"Who are you? And why am I here?" He demanded sharply, not caring how the dancer reacted to his words.
"You were sick. Your sister asked us to take care of you."
"Where are they? My family."
Hiei watched a wave of sadness cross the dancer's face, and for a moment his eyes seemed to shift to a beautiful gold hue, before sinking back into the deep green. Concern and caring sat on that face, mixing in with the hint of sadness. Hiei frowned, recognizing the look as the same one he got when people found out about his mixed heritage and didn't want to kill him.
Pity.
The only thing he hated worse then being mocked was pity.
His glare intensified and he gave up speaking with the dancer. Walking past him, he headed back for the cart and whatever else lay past it. He'd find his parents on his own. He didn't want anyone's pity and he certainly didn't want help from a mocking dancer who had nothing better to do.
"Hiei, wait."
"Go away. I'll find them on my own."
And with that he completely walked off, leaving the dancer to stand there and silently watch him leave. He didn't need help. He didn't want help. He wasn't going to take any help from anyone. He just wanted to find his family.
Kurama watched him walks away with a soft, yet sad smile, knowing that it wasn't the time to tell Hiei what had happened. He didn't have the heart to tell him. But hopefully his sister, Yukina, could.