Hiya, all! Sorry this is so late; my new computer is still giving me problems--it's been officially dubbed the new Kuwabara, if that tells you anything. It's not even letting me have normal access to my mail, so I know I missed a couple of new reviews for others stories that I meant to put here. For those of you who have reviewed lately, no, you are not forgotten, and your reviews are greatly appreciated. Yes, even flames are welcome, because they show that whoever is reading cares enough to try and correct me. I don't make any promises that I'll listen, but they are appreciated. Thank you for your patience, and enjoy the chapter!

Arano Honou: Arigatou, I love ice-cream! As birthdays go, mine anyway, it was about how it usually went—boring. I got a yummy chocolate cake and a rose out of it, though, as well as some pocket money, so it wasn't all bad. Now if only Dragonseer and Slade3 had put in appearances like they said they would…—grumbles—

Fate's Child Destiny's Friend: I'm on Westcoast time. And I know who was first, but this is fanfiction, and I didn't find out about Kiyoko until after I'd finished Winter's Rose. Since I didn't feel like altering a major part of that story-line, Yuuki Miyami stayed the first Reikai Tantei in my tales and Kiyoko got relegated to this century's first Detective—who just happens to still be alive. Besides, Yuuki's too cool to get rid of. Yay for bad-ass French noblemen!

Peeka-chan: n,.,n! Now, now, first of all it's Yuuki, not Yugi. My Frenchman did not walk around with red-and-yellow spiky hair, thank you ever so. —enjoys poke at the anime which was more adult in manga format— Second, Aislin has a much more lasting solution in mind.

Magus784: Come on. Who has Hiei been waiting five years to see properly whomped into the dirt? Aislin's not going to fight him again; Koenma promised that her aborted sparring match with Yusuke was the last one she'd ever have with a Tantei. Besides, Gambit's pretty strong by himself, plus he's got a whole hell of a lot of cunning. Not to mention Yusuke is a cocky little bastard and he knows it. But wow, Yuuki, your grave chapter is really generating a reaction. Two new reviewers for one chapter.

Yuuki: No one can resist the charms of a martyred hero. We're darned appealing.

Aislin: And you wonder why I thrashed you so often.

Darknesspirals: (WJ review) Then you'll love the fourth story. The stars are Luke and Craig. (SA review #1) I hope to address that problem in Season Tale 4, since Craig and Luke have a similar problem. My 16th was kinda a flop, but my seventeenth was a kick. I had a whole bunch of friends by then and we all had a pool party/barbecue. (SA review #2) I love my characters, even the ones that aren't technically mine. It's rarely difficult to follow the stories they lay down for me when I'm not looking—though my boys are making an exception for a change. —Luke and Craig smile innocently— But I'm not telling about Yusuke and Yuuki's similarities. You'll find out. And thanks, I really do enjoy working with Hiei; he's so comfortable to work with after…—checks date for Fox's Mischief— dang, only just shy of two years. But I've covered a whole lot more time than that in my fictions, I suppose that's why it feels longer. He's such a complex person and his history via manga/anime is just so…so…fascinating, yet so incomplete. He's easy to write about once you get him to cooperate.

Silverwing013: You're about to find out the second half to your review…

CrimsonSnowflake: Now why would I think it's corny? I think it's spiffy, actually. Reminds me of both Hiei and Aislin! n,.,n And there's nothing wrong with maniacal laughter now and again, it keeps us amused.

Disclaimer: Ah, what the hell, haven't done this for a while. No, still own nothing of Yu Yu Hakusho but the merchandise and my own nifty characters.

——————————————————————————————

Alarms howl out a belated warning of an intruder through the pastel-pink halls of Reikai's Palace, guards boiling out of nowhere like a nest of disturbed ants, all of them rushing towards the same place: the Vault. Koenma is standing before the doors when most of them pour into the over-sized hall before it, in his teenaged form and chewing on his blue binky with a dangerously blank expression.

The ogres slow, come to a stop, and then slowly begin to back away at the sight. It's quite clear that their prince is in a mood that none of them want to deal with, least of all when the huge doors to the Vault are hanging half-off their hinges and frost has been laid down on the floor in a purposeful design.

'Sorry, toddler, but we need to borrow the Agate Eye for a little while. Swear to Inari that if we can bring it back we will, but there's no guarantee about that. See you soon! Signed, Winter Rose and Silver Thief.' And around the crystalline words there is the symbol that has gone unused for almost twenty years: a stylized rose set into an equally-stylized snowflake.

"Gods damn it, Moors," Koenma growls, "You could have just asked."

——

Meanwhile, several miles away on the edge of the cliff between the Palace and the River Styx, two figures sit in quiet thought for a moment. In the hands of the smaller is what looks to be a real eye the size of a baseball with a brassy pupil that stares blankly up at her.

"You know something, koi? Maybe we should have tried asking first." A wicked smile up at her life-mate. "Oh, well! Add another few decades to our sentences and let's get back to the Lair!"

"Admit it, aisuhana," her companion rumbles playfully as they step into open air and the portal that will lead them home, "you enjoyed robbing Koenma blind just as much as I did."

"Sore wa himitsu desu!" singsongs the Winter Rose gaily just as the portal closes behind them to the sound of the Silver Thief's laughter.

——

The soft clicking of bootheels on pavement is the only thing that interrupts the faints songs of cicadas in the evening light, the tall woman walking briskly down the sidewalk and off onto a broad dirt path that winds leisurely through the trees. With a slight frown marring her pretty features Kumiko Uotani checks her watch for the time, the frown deepening the tiniest bit.

She resumes walking, hands in her jeans pockets—and around her usual stock of fuda safely contained in the inner-pocket holster she had designed to hold the rectangles of paper. Hopefully her contact wouldn't mind her being a smidgen late; hell, she should be used to the magic-wielder's tendency to be slightly behind schedule since they've worked together before.

Rushing footsteps fill her ears and the silver-haired woman turns in time to see a familiar chocolate-green-purple ponytail streak past her, attached to that wolf youkai who had informed Kumiko about her daughter's activities.

"Oh, hailstones, I'm late! Genkai's gonna kill me!" The unhappy wail drifts back to the mildly startled human woman, who, after a few moments of stunned silence, resumes walking up the path and the way the wolf-girl had run. One graceful eyebrow arches upward as memory replays.

What on Earth had that girl been wearing?

Hurried chatter fills the air as Kumiko silently ascends the last steps, the wolf-girl bowing repeatedly to a small, old woman who looks none too pleased at her young guest. The wolf's choice of clothing is now visible as ripped, bleached jeans covered in paint splatter, a James Dean-style black leather jacket, and a white t-shirt in similar mistreatment as the jeans but without the rips. A small creature that looks like a cross between a fox and a squirrel with abnormally long ears sits at the girl's feet, engrossed in smoothing that long, fluffy tail back into order.

"—and we couldn't interrupt practice because we've already missed two since Cassie's been sick and we have a gig this weekend at a new place and the tickets are already sold out so we just HAVE to practice and I'm so sorry Genkai it's that stupid bus' fault and—"

"Kohaku, shut up." The wolf snaps her mouth shut as the irritated older woman glares up at her. "Now take a good, deep breath." Obeying, Kohaku does so, then holds it when he lungs can't take in anymore air. "Now let it out slowly and let me remind you that I don't give a damn. I'm used to people being late, right, Uotani?"

The tall woman shrugs carelessly and walks up the path to stand in front of the elderly psychic. Kohaku's breath is not being let out slowly—she'd lost control over exhalation and had tried to suck it back in again at the appearance of the new guest, resulting in a hard coughing fit. "As you say, Genkai. You know I think the temple's gotten smaller?"

Genkai gives her a snort of amusement. "Only because you haven't been here since you were a pup like this girl here. Looks like you hit a couple of growth-spurts."

"You might say that," agrees the fuda-wielder calmly as she looks over the 'pup' once more. "So. You are a wolf youkai then. I would appreciate you telling me where my daughter really is, please."

Edging behind Genkai as if thinking that would save her, Kohaku gives the formidable woman a weak smile, echoed by the creature now perched on her shoulder. "Erm, she's in the Makai…"

Blink. Blink. A mild look down at uncaring Genkai. "And how, exactly, did she get there?"

"Her brother snuck her through a portal when no one was looking…"

"I don't have a son."

Genkai rolls her eyes in her usual show of distaste at these hard-headed kids and at Kohaku's oversimplified explanation. "No, but her past life's mother does. According to Obsidian, there were actually five in the litter which included himself and your daughter." A wry, ironic smile. "For the past seventeen years or so Zephyr has been human. However, the other half of her soul remained a fox and dormant. According to the progress reports I've been getting from their teacher, that is no longer the case. You now have a very different daughter than the one you thought you knew, Uotani."

Kumiko buries her face in one hand, sighing heavily. "I am totally lost, Genkai, as usual per your explanations. Who is Obsidian, what again about my daughter, why is she in Makai, and who the hells is their teacher?"

"Genkai-san," a sweet voice inserts itself neatly into the conversation and Kumiko blinks again, finding a petite, mint-haired young woman standing just a few feet away with her hands tucked into her sky-blue kimono. Garnet eyes flicker over her in appraisal before the girl continues. "Would you or our guests like some refreshments?"

"Oh, Yukina," breathes the wolf-girl in relief, contriving to look pathetic and hopeful at the same time—yet again echoed by that strange animal, "if you have any of those strawberry pastry-thingies from last time and anything resembling carbonated sugar I'd love you forever and ever!"

The other girl laughs softly in amusement at her friend. "I take it you just finished one of your band practices and ran all the way here from your house-portal?"

"Bingo!"

Another laugh as the sweet girl turns to go, looking back over her shoulder. "And jasmine tea for you, Genkai-san, correct?"

"Right, Yukina." Both blue-green eyebrows rise in polite interest at Kumiko, who just shakes her head and jams her hands deeper into her pockets, feeling the small crystal lying at the bottom of the left hum faintly. A youkai, too, probably an apparition given the power level and vibes.

"Nothing for me, thanks anyway."

"We'll be in the living room, Yukina-san."

"Hai." Genkai turns and strides off, trailed by Kohaku and Kumiko, one humming under her breath and the other looking around to see what changes, if any, have been made since her last visit. The aged psychic leads her guests into the decent-sized room paneled with whitewashed wood that is the usual meeting place for Genkai and her guests and takes a seat on one of several flat cushions.

The old woman takes a pack of cigarettes from her khaki pants' pocket, taking out one and lighting it up before fixing the seated Kumiko with one of her hard stares. "Kohaku can probably fill you in on the circumstances leading up to your daughter's 'trip'. I'll fill in what she missed." A smirk over at the edgy wolf youkai, who keeps anticipating an attack of fuda at any moment; the vibe this woman gives off is scarier than anything Hiei's ever produced—at least while around her. "Don't forget to breathe, puppy."

"Oh, um, right. Okay." Kohaku takes a deep breath, the movement causing her hair to shift and pick up more light in the usual glitter dusting. Oddly enough, even the strange little beastie has a light coating of glitter sparkling in the brassy, rusty-colored coat. "Just before the summer Solstice there was a breakout in Reikai prison, and the escapee was a young kitsune named Obsidian Avalon. He managed to make it to this city and started hunting around, seeing if he could find the reincarnation of his sister, who died the night he'd been arrested. He doesn't have much of a record; just a few charges of minor and grand theft, and the sentence should have ended a long time ago if you ask me."

"No one did, Kohaku," Genkai rasps in irritation.

Kohaku gives Genkai a quick grin. "Anyway, after about a week he found out that Zephyr had been having strange dreams, which were really memories from her last life, and figured she was his sister. Bloody ecstatic, he was. So just a couple days before Solstice he up and kidnapped-with-consent your daughter, and hauled tail back to the Thieves' Lair in Makai along with my boyfriend Hiei."

"Now his name I know. The Jaganshi's your boyfriend?" Kumiko's tone clearly conveys her disbelief that the cold, cruel, merciless killer she'd heard about would actually have a friend, let alone a romantic interest.

"Yeah, long story, that. Anyway, she's been over there since, and not only is fluff-head there with them, but so are Aislin and Kurama."

"And they are?"

Genkai takes up the story thread. "You've heard about the Winter Rose and Silver Thief, I imagine." A nod confirms the half-guess. "Aislin is the Rose, Kurama is the Silver Thief." Kumiko's eyes widen. "Aislin is still in her original body, but thanks to one of Koenma's hunters Kurama had to flee in spirit-form and ended up possessing a human fetus, one that hadn't received a soul yet. Koenma had a fit when he found out about that; something about still displacing the one who'd been slated for that body but it's already been done. The boy turns eighteen sometime this year, I think. Those are Obsidian and Ivory's teachers. Ivory," she adds, interrupting an obvious question, "is Zephyr's last life and no one has figured out how she's managed to pull of a half-Kurama. Obviously the cub isn't telling, either."

There's a brief pause in the conversation when Yukina brings in a tray with a plate of strawberry tarts, a pot of tea and two cups, and a can of lemon-lime soda covered in condensation. She sets the second cup in front of Kumiko with one of her innocent smiles. "Just in case you change your mind," is her sweet-voiced comment before she vanishes back out again, leaving Kohaku to dig into her first helping of tart while Genkai sips at the fragrant tea in her cup. The small beast is now seated elegantly on the low table, making a smaller strawberry tart disappear off the side of his person's plate.

"Now, like I said before, Aislin's been sending me progress reports," Genkai says in her crow-harsh voice, setting the exquisite porcelain container down. "Apparently there's a curse that was laid on the two cubs by one of Aislin's enemies; they're halfway through finding the five keys that'll cancel the damn thing." The old psychic smirks again. "According to her, your girl's got some speed and no little skill with fuda, but her hand-to-hand's worth practically nothing. Obsidian isn't in much better shape, but he's been sitting in a cell for a century so he's at least got some excuse."

Kumiko addresses Genkai in a very crisp tone, sitting up ramrod straight. "My daughter wasn't trained to fight because she was to handle non-corporeal beings only. We're ghost-catchers, not Spirit Detectives."

The brown-haired girl inhaling her food suddenly dissolves into a second fit of coughing, smacking her chest to dislodge the lump that caught somewhere in her throat while her face turns interesting shades of white and red. "Um, actually…"

"That's exactly the kind of training Aislin is currently putting both of them through on top of the thief-lessons," Genkai informs her ex-student dryly.

"Oh. But I don't want Zephyr to become a Spirit Detective," protests Kumiko. "She'd have to fight physical beings capable of turning her into mush in a mouse-heartbeat. I had to go through that and I hated it; I wanted to spare her the same problems."

"Right now," comes the raspy counter, "that girl and the boy have a lot more trouble to deal with than plain fighting. Two of those keys remain and they're going to be much harder to find than the others. All three of the other keys have had to be stolen, though one of them was stolen and stashed a long time ago and another had been stolen back just a little before that. Aislin hasn't given me the details of what the physical forms of the keys are or the explanation would be less confusing."

"Koenma's having a fit 'cause they stole the Agate Eye from his father's Vault," supplies Kohaku, going back to eating, already on her third tart. "I'll bet the rest are jewels, too."

An approving nod from Genkai. "That's not bad reasoning, puppy." She turns back to Kumiko, her expression expectant. "Is that what you came to ask me about? Your daughter?"

"Yes, but this isn't what I was expected. Zephyr a kitsune, a thief-in-training, a Tantei-in-training, off in the Makai doing who knows what…" The human woman slumps, her face once again finding refuge in one ringless hand. "Grounded for two months isn't nearly enough punishment. She knows damn well she should have told me the truth instead of lying to me." A pause. "Well, not telling the truth, anyway."

"On the upside, I expect you'll be seeing her again shortly; one of the last keys is here in Ningenkai and I expect they'll let your daughter slip her leash long enough for some kind of visit before dashing off again." Genkai looks as though she's going to continue, but at that moment a sleek head pokes around the doorframe, honey-amber eyes widening at bit at the small gathering.

"Oh, sorry, Genkai-san. Dad sent me in to let you know there's a couple of dregs trying to move in on the north-east quadrant. Should we smoke 'em?" He edges a little further into the room, one broad hand pushing back a bit of his short-cropped mahogany hair.

"Do what you want," is Genkai's uncaring reply. "Uotani, this is Takumi, one of the Forest's new residents. Takumi, this is Kumiko Uotani and Kohaku Piers. The furball is Kohaku's Spirit Beast, Nao."

"Nyah," comments Nao in a dry tone from his resumed perch on Kohaku's shoulder. His gold eyes are assessing, raking the male wolf from eartip to toes and apparently liking what he sees, for the Spirit Beast settles like a living stole around his person's throat and drops into a light nap.

Both youngsters study each other for a moment, testing the scents on the air with the ease of practice. Finally, Kohaku grins. "Ookami?"

"Ookami," Takumi agrees cheerfully, letting his slightly-oversized ears lift out of his hair. Kohaku winks at him, her peridot eyes flashing bronze for a moment when her own canine ears make a showing. "What clan?"

"I'm a from a joining of Blood Moon and Blade-arm, how about you?"

Delight and surprise make those amber eyes glow. "You're a cousin, then! I'm from Crescent-Blade, a sister-clan to yours! Only," and here the good humor vanishes, "there's just five of us left. Some old enemy's wiped the rest of our clan out."

"Well, that sucks," Kohaku says, rising to her feet and looking over at Genkai. "Sorry to delay that reiki lesson you wanted to give me even more, but you know family comes first, Genkai-san."

"Get going, kid." A dismissive wave of a wrinkled hand. "My feelings aren't hurt."

The two wolves disappear out the door, talking in low, excited voices as they head off. Genkai turns back to her remaining guest and takes a moment to give her a good look-over in proper light.

She remembers how the girl looked nearly twenty years ago at an energetic, early twenty-something, petite, slender, and as ready to deliver a joke's punch-line as she was a banishment. That's changed. Her earlier comment had been true; Kumiko used to be just shy of five foot three and now she stands close to six. The energy that used to pour off of her is muted, more focused, and vibrating with darker emotional tones due to all the unpleasant news dumped on her all at once. That lightning-fast smile is gone as well, though Genkai isn't quite certain if that's just due to circumstance or if it got buried by time's passing.

The woman's tastes haven't changed much, though, Genkai thinks to herself in mild amusement. Still sticks to jeans, uniform blouses, and heeled boots. Wonder if she still wears the knives in the boot-soles like she used to. Kumiko had appeared on her doorstep one day, asking if she'd needed any ghosts or restless spirits cleaned out as a kind of house-cleaning service: Genkai had informed her tartly that she needed no help getting slackers like that out of her home, thank you very much.

That had gotten them started in on techniques and styles, which had led to a brief sparring session, and had ended with Kumiko coming back for weekly visits to train on Saturday evenings after work at a gym. Genkai had wanted to train her because the silly chit had kept getting herself into scrapes with that strong sixth-sense of hers, and had tried to banish youkai several times by mistake, coming to the temple with black eyes and lots of bruises as well as the occasional broken bone.

The girl Kumiko'd been back then had hated getting into those fights, because the endings were usually the same. She'd whip out some of her other fuda, get whacked around a few times, get the damned paper to stick, and had usually ended up imploding the offending youkai on the spot. That was what had gotten her infamous in the Makai, at least in the circles that Aislin had circulated in, and the reason she'd eventually stopped ghost-hunting when she married a mundane human and had had a baby.

Kumiko was never one to desire fame. She'd just wanted to be able to do what she did well, quietly, without causing such a huge ruckus and endangering her family. Genkai had heard through the grapevine that Kumiko's husband had left her when Zephyr was just thirteen, all because he had gotten tired of the supernatural stuff his wife kept having to deal with, leaving the two of them alone with each other.

That was when Kumiko had moved back here from Okinawa and had promised to come visit sometime before the decade ended, when she wasn't so busy running her new bookshop and helping to reduce the ghost population that had built up to ridiculous levels in her absence.

Finally Genkai gives a harsh bark of laughter and sips again at her tea. "So. How are you keeping up with your old skills?"

A slow smile grows on Kumiko's face. "Why, Genkai, that sounded just like a sparring-challenge!"

——

(("So when'd you and your family get here?")) Kohaku inquires as she and Takumi lope through the darkness cloaking the Forest with familiar ease; one of Genkai's favorite exercises for Kohaku is laps around the Forest at set circumferences around the temple, and Takumi has learned the game-trails for survival. Nao, awoken from his nap, bounds above them in the treetops in true Hiei-style.

(("Oh, just a few hours before that cute girl and her friend disappeared,")) is the casual reply. (("Haru's a nice guy, went hunting with us for our first meal in a few days.")) A wicked smile gone unseen in the darkness. (("Suzume seems to have a bit of a crush on him, sweet really."))

(("Has Genkai been keeping you updated on that situation?"))

Takumi makes a sound of affirmation. (("I even think we've got what they're looking for."))

Kohaku stops in mid-stride, Takumi jogging for several more feet before he notices that his pretty cousin is no longer running beside him. (("Are you fricken serious?")) she gasps in a strangled voice, her ponytail doing its best to bush out from the force of her surprise.

Takumi just sighs, jogs back over, grabs her hand, and starts pulling her down the trail to the rendezvous point with his family. (("One of the last missives sent to Genkai by messenger passed through a portion of our new territory and we intercepted it. It said that the keys to whatever curse is plaguing the Avalon twins are jewels linked by similar myths. It just so happens one of the heart-clan's family treasures is one such gem, the Sunstone."))

(("That's one of the clan's treasures? Woow…")) The Clan treasures, originating with the first-blood called the Blade clan, consist of four great items known in youkai legends. They are: the Lightning Sword, the Thunder Shield, the Rain Flute, and the Sunstone, the last collected by the originator of the Blade clan, Lairo Twin-Blade just before he went to his final resting. (("Ancestor Twin-Blade had some strong connections to get that bit of pretty."))

Her cousin gives her another noise of agreement and lets go her hand, picking up the pace now that they're so close to the meeting point. (("Just be prepared to meet my father. He's a bit paranoid these days."))

(("I don't know about that, brother,")) chuckles someone from the shadows. A young grey-brindle male separates himself from the darkness and strides to meet them, eyes the color of sunflowers appraising as he looks over their 'guest'. (("She's too pretty to be dangerous, ne?"))

(("Don't get any ideas, you girl-crazy idiot,")) Takumi scolds in affection. (("Not only is she from our sister-clan the Blade-arms, but she's also taken."))

(("I'll bet a good growl in his direction…"))

(("By the Jaganshi."))

Takara sighs, giving up his daydream of a date with the lovely female glaring daggers at him as a lost cause, grinning lopsidedly at both his brother and cousin. (("Ah, well, so much for that, then. Did Genkai give us the all-clear, brother mine?"))

(("She said she doesn't care."))

(("Oh, good. The dregs are swaggering around like they own the place. Let's tell Dad and get some proper hunting done; I'm starving."))

(("Right. Cousin Kohaku, if you will start us off?")) Impish Kohaku gives her bowing cousin one of her patented grins and throws her head back, letting the drawn-out notes of the hunting song pour from her throat. Takumi is a beat behind her, his own molten voice rising in harmony with hers. Takara's silvery baritone comes in just as Kohaku takes a quick breath and resumes, keeping the hunting song unbroken.

From nearly a mile away, a deeper voice calls back, the howl crackling through the air with all the strength of bottled lightning. A sweet contralto sings out in harmony, while first Takumi then Takara take their own fortifying breaths and continue. Last to spiral out of the darkness several miles distant is an angelic soprano that calls through the trees in shorter lengths than the others.

The hunt-song continues for another minute or two before the deeper voice changes pitch and tempo, signaling the start of the chase. Letting their last breaths die away the three gathered on the game-trail take off in careful sprints, noses in the air to best track the fools who dared think they could control a place that wolves call home.

As the haunting melody dies away, two people standing in the temple courtyard open their eyes with smiles on their faces. "I'd forgotten the way demon wolves sing," Genkai rasps quietly, tucking her fists at the small of her back. "Mortal wolves don't do their melodies any justice."

Kumiko nods a silent assent, still trying to commit that ghostly tune to memory even as it slips away. "One of the only things I liked about going to Makai was that I'd get a chance to hear them in the forests or when they were the acting police for some small town," the human woman sighs, remembering the few times she'd somehow managed to end up in that other world—usually because some youkai or other would think that she'd be afraid and forget to fight back. They'd been corrected of their misconceptions with alacrity and an inked piece of paper.

Shaking her head in a vain effort to clear away all the years cluttering up her memory, Genkai turns back to her younger companion. "Now, where were we?"

——

The light beneath the trees in the forest surrounding the Lair is filtered at best, even with the fact that it's a rising full moon off on the horizon, but that doesn't bother the two forms slipping silently among the large trunks on their way to the Emerald Throne. It's the night after Aislin and Yoko had stolen the Agate Eye from beneath Koenma's nose and the binding ceremony had gone like the others: the twins had been presented to the definitely-male little spirit and had been accepted under the same terms as the Tear and the Lily. Eye hadn't bothered to take them into the Void last night so both youngsters are fresh and rested despite a long day's training. The small jewel set above their eyes gleams, the new character for 'sight' drawn just beneath it in glittering copper, a match to the 'eternity' character above the stone.

Tonight is the event that Obsidian had been hoping to show his sister's reincarnation: the faerie gather-meet, held monthly less than two miles away from the Thieves' Lair. He'd reminded her ahead of time that courtesy dictates they remain silent and in the background during the revelry and discussions, else they'd be challenged and pixed but good!

That is, only if one of the Fair Folk didn't acknowledge and invite them into the circle. Then talking is fine but must be kept to polite boundaries.

Obsidian and Ivory arrive just moments ahead of several iridescent androgynous pixies who go about and 'light the lamps', bringing faerie fire to burn in the ring of mushrooms circling the sunken boulder covered in the moss that gives the landmark its name. The foxes take seats on a fallen log in silence, well clear of the circle but still in sight of it, to be joined a few minutes later by a Yoko brimming with anticipation.

More and more fae gather in the moonbeams pouring through a hole in the canopy, putting the Throne in a natural, luminescent spot-light, shimmering all the colors of dreams and nightmares; this isn't the yearly gathering on All Hallows, so both Bright and Dark court Folk are able to attend.

Some music begins to flow from the musicians arranged at the base of the Throne, but it's more of a sound-check than anything else and the trio of foxes essentially ignores it, waiting for the main event to begin. However, they're in for a bit of a surprise, first.

Several fauns come racing into the small clearing, cheering something along the lines of "They're coming, they're coming!"

The three watchers exchange glances. Who's coming? Well, whoever it is has the gathered fae in an uproar of excitement, from the tiny pixies all the way to the single phuka observing from the shadows with glowing red eyes.

And in a swirl of platinum dust and flower petals, they appear. One of them is recognizable, but only because she wears a gown familiar to the silver renard sitting in darkness. The other is recognized only because of the company he keeps. The female is long-limbed and graceful as a cat as she silently steps into the moonlight on her tiny, slippered feet. Her long, translucent hair is unbound and shimmers down to the ground, trailing along with her gown's frothy skirt, with matching eyelashes framing husky-blue eyes. Those eyes are unique even among demon-kin, the pale vibrant blue limned in cerulean with a cat's slit pupils gracing their centers. Most wondrous of all, a set of iridescent dragonfly wings rest against her back.

The male is equally attention-grabbing, though harder to see until he emerges into the bright moonlight. His face is shaped like a pixie's; high cheekbones and pointed chin, with vibrant, entrancing eyes the color of scarlet roses. His hair, black as the darkest sin, hangs down over his body in long, thin strands—some of those strands are streaked in a white that glimmers in the touch of the moon. His outfit is black water-silk, tucked-in shirt and trousers to her snowy, gauzy gown that bares her legs to the knee but trails behind to mingle with her hair. From his shoulderblades emerge a pair of butterfly wings, black except for a peacock-blue stripe edging each wing.

Yoko sits there, entranced while the two kits just stare. They've never seen these two fae before tonight, despite having attended several gatherings in the past. Who are they?

Yoko knows. Oh yes, he knows very well indeed, though he never expected the honor of getting to see...

"Welcome, lord and lady," chorus the gathered faerie as they clear a path to the Throne, where waits the Forest King and his wife; a devastatingly beautiful pair of Sidhe who have been here as long as the forest has existed.

"Indeed, welcome," says the King in a glad voice, rising with his arms outstretched. "Welcome, child of the moors, and welcome, child of the shadows. It's been many seasons since you have graced us with your presence."

"My apologies, your majesty," the female replies in an angelic voice, as she and her companion drop into a courtly bow or curtsey, depending on the gender. An expert flick of the skirts resettles them as she smiles again at the ruler of this place. "But Life and her sister Destiny have been leading us a tangled chase for the past decade-and-a-half."

"And more for a pair I have not seen in much longer." The Queen speaks in a melodic voice, silver as the moonlight, gazing in the direction of the silent watchers. "Come, children of balance, and be welcome in the circle. You as well, King of Thieves. It's been some seasons since you've also been here."

"As your fair majesty wishes," intones Yoko, rising to his feet before he, too, executes an elegant bow with hand over heart. Ivory and Obsidian also rise, the vixen sticking to a bow like her brother due to her lack of skirts. A curtsey just doesn't have the same effect without them after all. A few long strides brings all three into the circle of moonbeams shining down and to the sides of the two unexpected guests.

Yoko, with one of his infamous wicked smiles, takes the white female's hand and bows over it, lips grazing her knuckles in a sensual fashion. "Aisuhana, my beloved, you look positively stunning tonight."

Obsidian's ears perk as he and his sister register that if this is indeed their teacher Aislin, then the other must be…Two pairs of eyes gaze wonderingly over at Hiei, the male's cheeks shading into pink at the attention. He's even taller in this form than in his regular one, topping five-foot-ten in his obviously-bare feet. "Oooh," both chorus.

"Spiffy, isn't he?" Aislin comments mildly, batting her life-mate's hand away with a reproving smile. "Porcupine head does try so hard to keep it secret that he has faerie blood in him, but it was bound to be discovered sooner or later."

"Hn!" But the effect of Hiei's annoyed glare is ruined by the two gazing at him with sparkling, enthusiastic eyes.

A repeated chorus of "Oooh!" brings a smattering of laughter from the gathered fair and deepens the color in Hiei's cheeks, but goes no farther. Instead, the meeting progresses as usual with input from those who've come, including some from Yoko and later on, Ikazuchi, representing the thieves and their needs. Obsidian and Ivory continue to gaze intently at Hiei in fascination, visibly restraining the urge to go over and investigate his new form. The only things that save Hiei from them number two: because it would be inexcusably rude, and because Hiei would kill them for it sure as the day-time sky is red.

———————————————————————————————

Heh, finally got around to showing Hiei off in his faerie form! Bwaha! He's such a bishie, even if he won't admit it.

Hiei: HN!

Kohaku: My bishie! —glomps onto Hiei with a smile— You're gonna show me that form sooner or later, right?

Hiei: —blushing but still trying to be stoic— HN!

Phuka: a Celtic creature of the Dark Courts. Usually takes the form of a black horse or a goat with red eyes and,similar toits cousin the banshee, warns of death for whoever sees it.