Kuronue blinked when he spotted Kurama sitting next to the camp fire early the next morning. He now had his hair pulled back and had gained a vest somewhere along the way, and the small pouch at his side was quite full thanks to his end of the 'entertainment'. Most mornings he wouldn't find anyone up this early, but Kurama was sitting there by the fire with a small stick in his hand, poking at the dying embers as the sky around them hinted toward sunrise.

The dark haired youkai walked over and sat down on the log next to the red head youko, a smirk on his face. "Can't sleep?"

"He hasn't come back yet."

"He…?" There were only a handful of he's that Kurama could mean, but Kuronue was relatively sure that their father was sleeping in the wagon, as usual. So that left the kid. "You mean the kid, the kit's little brother?"

Kurama nodded and gave a small yawn as he tossed the stick into the fire. "He was up and about last night, I ran into him after my dance. He's not very friendly, but then I'd be scared too if I woke up in an unfamiliar place without anyone I knew."

"Where is he now?"

"I don't know. He went that way," Kurama pointed away from the wagon and into the trees. "Haven't seen his sister either." Kurama let out another yawn, this one bigger then the last, and leaned over, resting his head on Kuronue's shoulder.

Kuronue couldn't resist a small smile. He should have known that when they agreed for Kurama to watch over the sick little fire demon that the youko would take it as such a serious duty. Kurama was like that with most things, and caring to a fault along with it. So he must have stayed up all night, in hopes that Hiei would come back from talking to his sister. But apparently that hadn't happened, and Kurama was left here waiting for him and fighting sleep until dawn. Kuronue knew that the only reason Kurama's head was now leaning against his shoulder was that Kurama was now losing that battle to keep his eyes open.

He smiled at the younger dancer and ran a light hand through his soft red hair. "Get some sleep, you silly kid. I'll go look for him."

Kurama shook his head, but was caught by a particularly large yawn in the process. For a moment his face scrunched up in a look of disappointment at himself, but that wore off soon, shifting back to his normal cute youko face.

"How come you're still awake. I know you've been up all night."

Kuronue gave him a small smirk. "Sitting and watching a fire will put someone to sleep. Lying down and 'dancing' next to the fire… now that will definitely keep one awake." Kuronue winked at the younger youkai and touched the pouch at his side so it jingled a bit from the coins and other forms of payment within. "Your dance wore them out. Mine hardly got a show."

Kurama gave a soft snort in response. Both of them knew exactly what type of 'dancing' Kuronue did.

Kuronue smiled and stood up, gently pushing Kurama off his shoulder. "Go get some sleep. I'm going to go see where the little kits went to. Oh… and wake up father. He said he wanted to get to work early this morning."

The red haired youko shook his head. "He's awake. He stepped out an hour or so ago."

Well, that explained the reason why Kurama stayed at the camp fire and didn't go looking for his charge. They never left the wagon alone, especially not this close to a town.

"Go get some sleep, you stupid fox." Kuronue repeated, his voice taking on a mocking commanding tone. Kurama responded by sticking out his tongue, before he curled into a ball next to the log, wrapping his green cloth around him for whatever warmth the small fire didn't provide against the morning dew, and to block the sun from his eyes.

As soon as Kuronue was sure Kurama was actually going to sleep, he turned away from the fire and headed in the direction that Kurama had indicated.

The forest around him wasn't that thick, the trees spread out a bit sparingly for most Makai forests. A couple demonic flowers bloomed here and there, snatching up smaller wild life for their morning breakfast as it just happened to slither or attempt to sneak by. Kuronue threaded his way across the forest floor, his bar feet making little to no sound. He was naturally a nocturnal youkai, and silence and stealth came naturally to him, though he had to admit they worked best at night.

For now he simply moved silently as to make sure he didn't startle any one or thing awake before they expected to wake up. Makai creatures woken early in the morning had notorious tempers and were apt to attack you, no matter what the size difference was. Not to mention that some of the more dangerous plants operated on sound, rather then movement when they searched for their prey. Still, had he been really worried he would have simply invited Kurama along with him, but the plants really didn't bother him. They were just completely normal. One learned to survive with them, when one lived in the Makai.

He found his 'prey' in a small clearing, not too far from the one they'd made camp in. The peeking sun lit up the area with soft rays, which reflected off the small lake and large boulder which filled the clearing. Two shapes lay against the boulder, resting there with little movement. From where he stood, Kuronue could see Yukina sitting against the large rock, with her brother resting his head in her lap, dozing softly as she threaded her fingers soothingly through his hair. Around them the ground was sparkling softly, and only when Kuronue stepped a bit closer did he realize that it wasn't the dew that was catching the new sun's light, but rather a small collection of Koorime tear gems.

So now Hiei knew what had happened to their parents.

Kuronue frowned quietly walked closer to them, letting his foot falls be louder this time, so they could hear him coming. Yukina was the only one who responded though, as her brother seemed fast asleep. She lifted a hand to clear away the softly sparkling lines from her cheeks, then turned a soft smile toward Kuronue, in greeting.

Kuronue couldn't help but return a smile back to her as he knelt down next to them. "You should sleep closer to the wagon next time. We were worried where you'd disappeared to."

"I didn't get to bury them, so I gave them a place instead." Yukina pointed to two trees standing near the shore, which at first glance looked to be of a white variety. Though, as Kuronue looked closer, he soon came to realize that the trees were covered in ice, making it look like winter and snow had suddenly come to cover just these two trees. And the job was done perfectly, because nothing was melting as the warm sun began to rise.

His eyes traveled down and he found the sandy ground around the two trees was now a dark, imperfect glass, made of melted sand grains formed around the trees. He smiled a little and glanced back at the two. "And Hiei did that."

Yukina nodded and stopped running her fingers through his hair, now just holding him in her lap. A moment later she looked back up with a grateful smile. "He seems to be doing a lot better now, thank you."

"Thank Kurama, kit. He's the one who knows the plants. Speaking of which, we should head back to the wagon. We're not travelling for today, but I'm betting he's not completely healed yet. And sleeping out in the bright sun probably won't be good for him."

Yukina nodded her agreement and pulled her hands back. Then she watched quietly as Kuronue knelt down and pulled Hiei into his arms. Hiei only stirred a little, but otherwise easily slipped back into sleep, resting there quietly. Yukina smiled softly at his reaction and stood up, gathering the tear gems in her hand. Before turning back to Kuronue she walked to the edge of the pond and dropped them into the water, then turned back.

"I'm sure they love the gift," Kuronue said, nodding to the small piece of art the two twins had left on the shore.

"Thank you."

And the three headed back to the camp.